


Molting

by SailorChibi



Series: Miraculous Hive [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs a Hug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Chloé Bourgeois Friendship, Angst, Angst and Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, Audrey Bourgeois is a bitch, Bee Chloé Bourgeois | Queen Bee, Bee Miraculous, Character Death, Chloé Bourgeois & Nathaniel Kurtzberg Friendship, Chloé Bourgeois Needs a Hug, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Chloé Bourgeois and Adrien Agreste act like siblings, Fox Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Gabriel Agreste is an Asshole, Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting, Gen, Good Chloé Bourgeois, Hawkmoth takes everything a step too far, I can guarantee you won't like what happens, Identity Reveal, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi Lies, Lila Rossi dies, Lila Rossi salt, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Mayura - Freeform, Mayura Lila Rossi, Miraculous Holder Chloé Bourgeois, Miraculous Holder Juleka Couffaine, Miraculous Holder Lila Rossi, Miraculous Holder Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Miraculous Side Effects, Miraculous Tendencies, Nathaniel Kurtzberg Needs a Hug, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Chloé Bourgeois, Peacock Lila Rossi, Peacock Miraculous, Post-Episode: s03 Caméléon | Chameleon, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Protective Adrien Agreste, Protective Chloé Bourgeois, Protective Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Secret Identity Reveal, Tiger Miraculous, Trauma, no one threatens queen bee's hive, please do not read this if you like lila, protect marinette dupain-cheng, the peacock miraculous is dangerous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2020-10-25 01:10:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 36,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20715611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: When a new Mayura shows up on scene, no one is sure how to handle it. The Peacock miraculous is dangerous, not just to Paris but also to its holder. The Miraculous Squad is doing what they can, but that's not easy when Lila Rossi is up to her old tricks.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! So I recognize that it's been six months, but I have an excuse: this addition to the series isn't just a one shot, but will have multiple chapters. I think that's worth the wait, don't you?

The thing is, Chloé never should’ve left.

When her father approaches her about a weeklong vacation – he has some business to do in Italy, and he wants her to come, since normally she jumps at the chance to go with him - she’s initially reluctant, which doesn’t make Mayor Bourgeois very happy. He’s never been brave enough to come right out and say it, but he doesn’t like the fact that she’s Queen Bee. He thinks it’s dangerous and would much rather that she left the duties of being a miraculous holder to Ladybug, Chat Noir and Filou.

He would think that even more if he knew how close she came to dying when fighting Ursa Major, which is exactly why Chloé will be forever grateful that footage from that fight hasn’t surfaced in the past two weeks. The last thing she needs is to have an on-going fight with her father over whether or not it’s safe for her to go fight every time an akuma surfaces.

Anyway, because of her duties as Queen Bee, Chloé can’t just drop everything and swan off whenever she wants to. There’s a reason she has permission to keep her miraculous at all times now; Ladybug and Chat Noir are depending on Queen Bee to be there when an akuma attacks, particularly since Filou has only been in a couple of fights and is still very much trying to get his feet under him.

But when she brings it up in conversation, Marinette sensibly points out that she and Adrien have been handling everything without too much trouble until now, and that they do have Filou to fall back on. Plus, it’s only for a week. What can happen in a week?

Famous last words.

She keeps an eye on the news and the Ladyblog while she’s gone, but honestly Chloé’s first inkling that something is wrong is when she gets off the plane. She’s feeling grumpy, tense and depressed after spending a whole week with Audrey Bourgeois (and, mental note, she _really_ needs to explain to her father the difference between a good surprise and a very shitty surprise).

She takes out her phone and powers it on. Amidst a flurry of Facebook and Instagram notifications, she sees a message from Nathaniel of all people. He may be a miraculous holder on occasion now, but they don’t hang out at school and he never messages her. She furrows her eyebrows at the sight of his name and warily unlocks her phone to see the full message.

**11:18pm Nathaniel:** you are back at school tomorrow, right?

That’s it. One single line, seven words, and that’s all it takes to make Chloé stop dead in her tracks. A heavy feeling seeps into her chest. She wants to message him back, but it’s almost 5am and it’s unlikely Nathaniel is awake yet, much less hovering over his phone waiting for a response. Chloé scowls, rubbing her chest idly with her free hand. She hadn’t planned on going to school today; it’s Friday, she’s exhausted on more than one level, and she wanted the weekend to sleep.

“Chloé,” Mayor Bourgeois calls out. “Come along. Time to go. We’ve got our luggage now.” 

“Right,” Chloé says, walking over to him. “I’ve changed my mind, Daddy. I am going to school after all.”

Mayor Bourgeois looks shocked. “But – but Chloé, I thought you said –”

“I know what I said. I changed my mind,” Chloé snaps, stalking outside the airport. The sight of the sun slowly starting to rise over Paris settles something inside of her that’s been a little _off_ all week, but it does nothing to lessen the edginess burning a new hole in her chest.

And then, in the distance towards the center of the city, they hear the explosion.

“Oh dear,” says Mayor Bourgeois fretfully.

“Sir, it appears there’s an akuma attack in progress. We should get you to safety,” says one of the security guys.

“Right.” Mayor Bourgeois nods briskly and beckons to Chloé. “Let’s go. We can stay in my office until that business is taken care of.”

“Your office?” Chloé repeats, staring at him like he’s dumb. Her father sometimes, _honestly_.

“It will be safer than trying to get to the hotel,” he says.

Chloé rolls her eyes so hard that it hurts. “Pollen, buzz on!”

Yellow magic brightens the air around her; Queen Bee snaps her wrist and grabs hold of her stinger. She must look as pissed off as she feels because the security team scatters out of her way. Mayor Bourgeois stutters some weak protests behind her that Queen Bee ignores as she throws out her stinger. It wraps around a statute in the distance and promptly yanks her off her feet.

In less than five minutes, she’s almost to the battle. As she gets closer, she takes in the scene with narrowed eyes. The akuma looks like a human-size robot. It’s currently parrying with Chat Noir, who is clearly struggling. Queen Bee spares a second or two to wonder how long the battle has been going on for before she decides she doesn’t really care. Time to see what her stinger will do to a robot.

She lands right behind the robot and bellows, “Venom!” right before stabbing it in the spine with her pulsing stinger.

“What the –” Chat yelps in surprise and leaps backwards in shock as green electricity arches over the robot. It convulses, shaking from head to toe, and then topples over right where Chat was standing. They both stare at it for a moment in silence before Chat looks up at her with huge eyes.

“Hi,” Queen Bee says casually. “My plane was early.”

“I… I see that,” Chat says faintly, looking down at the akuma. “Have I ever told you what impeccable timing you have?” He nudges at the robot’s shoulder with a boot, but nothing happens.

“Tell me when I don’t have a tension headache,” Queen Bee says, looking down at the akuma with distaste. “Where’s Ladybug?”

“Um… she was going to go get Filou, actually,” Chat admits. “We… weren’t expecting you.”

Queen Bee nods absently, scanning the akuma for an object. When she doesn’t find one, she and Chat carefully flip the akuma over onto its back. It beeps feebly and they both freeze, but nothing happens. Chat casts her a wary look and then grabs his baton, extending it. He pokes at the flap of paper sticking out of the robot’s neck until it comes free; Queen Bee grabs it and unfolds it to find a photograph of a father and daughter playing with robots.

“What’s your bet, dad or daughter?” she asks.

Chat steps closer and leans over her shoulder to look too. “Hmm… I’m gonna say daughter.”

“I say dad. Loser buys winner a coffee?”

“Deal.”

“What have I told you about betting on akumas?” Ladybug says, landing right beside them, and both Chat and Queen Bee jump. Queen Bee looks around for Filou but doesn’t see him.

Chat flashes Ladybug a disarming smile. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight, My Lady?”

Ladybug just shoots him an unimpressed look and turns to Queen Bee. “I just got to Master Fu’s when I heard everything stop. I figured either Chat had won, or something had gone very wrong, and either way I didn’t have time to go for Filou,” she explains. It makes sense, but the explanation doesn’t make Queen Bee happy. She wants to know what Nathaniel meant, damnit!

“Ready?” Queen Bee says, holding up the photograph. Ladybug takes her yoyo in hand and nods. Queen Bee rips the photograph in half, and a dark purple butterfly flutters out; she automatically takes a huge step back, hair on the back of her neck prickling uncomfortably. She’s been akumatized three times now and has zero desire to go for an even four.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Ladybug murmurs when the butterfly tries to fly away. Her yoyo snaps out. “I free you from evil! Gotcha! Bye bye, little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!”

She throws her Lucky Charm into the air and it explodes into streams of red light. Queen Bee turns an expectant look on the akuma and smirks victoriously as a confused, older man is returned to himself. Chat groans under his breath and pouts. Ladybug frowns at the both of them before walking over to the older man and taking his hand to help him to his feet.

“Here you are, Sir,” she says politely, handing the photograph back. “This is yours, right?”

“Ladybug? Oh – yes, that’s mine. What happened? I was looking at this photograph of my daughter… she doesn’t like robots anymore, you see, and I just got so sad…” The man looks bewildered as he takes in Chat and Queen Bee. 

“It’s okay now,” Ladybug says soothingly.

Queen Bee leans over to Chat. “You owe me a coffee.”

“Story of my life,” Chat says, crossing his arms. “How’d you know?”

“Just had a feeling,” Queen Bee says carelessly, rather than explain that she’s noticed that children’s akumas tend towards brighter colors and more abstract designs. This robot akuma was both silver and streamlined. 

He gives her a suspicious look but relents. “Fine, what do you want?”

“It’s like 5:30 in the morning. I didn’t sleep at all last night because we had to be at the airport so early and I spent the whole week with my mother. What do you think I want?” Queen Bee says, much more snappishly than she intends, but she has a _feeling_ and, now that the akuma is gone, she can’t ignore it. Something is wrong and she doesn’t like it.

Chat is quiet for a moment before he steps closer and wraps an arm around her shoulder. “How about breakfast? My treat. You, me, Marinette and Nathaniel. We’ll go to that place you like. Call it team bonding.”

“Yeah, okay,” Queen Bee says, leaning against him. Adrien knows her too well.

Ladybug walks back over to them and, through a yawn, says, “I am so tired.”

“Let’s get breakfast,” says Chat, holding his other arm out to her. Ladybug slips under it and they both cuddle him for a moment. Chat literally purrs in contentment, right up until his stomach grumbles and ruins the moment.

“I’ll get Nathaniel,” Queen Bee says, regretfully slipping away. She throws out her stinger and is gone before either of them can respond, launching herself up to the rooftops. Nathaniel’s family’s apartment isn’t too far away when you travel by rooftops; she’s only been there once, but she remembers the way. 

Fortunately, it seems like Nathaniel’s developed a smart habit of sleeping with his bedroom window open. Queen Bee lands lightly on the ledge and spares a quick glance around the room. It’s surprisingly messy, with clothes and other things heaped all over the place. The only two neat spots are the bed and a desk that is loaded down with every imaginable art supply.

Queen Bee slides silently inside and stalks over to the bed just as her transformation gives out. Pollen flutters down onto her shoulder with a sleepy yawn. Nathaniel jerks awake moments later to find her looming over him, hands on her hips; to his credit, he doesn’t scream. He just stares at her blankly for a few seconds, as though trying to assess how real she is, before letting out a long sigh.

“I suppose I should’ve expected this,” he remarks.

“What is this about?” Chloé says, holding her phone up with his text on the screen.

“Good morning to you too, Chloé.”

She folds her arms and stares. “What’s going on at school?”

Nathaniel sits up, running a hand through his hair. “It’s Lila.”

Chloé goes very still. “Tell me.”

“She’s been spreading rumors about Marinette, saying that Marinette is Mayura,” Nathaniel says. 

“_What_?!” Chloé hisses.

“I know.” Nathaniel shakes his head, looking tired. “She pointed out that Marinette is absent almost every time there’s an akuma, because Marinette leaves every time there’s an akuma and she’s always late coming back afterwards. And she said that a lot of people around Marinette have been akumatized. People in our class, that kid Marinette baby-sits, Alya’s sisters, Adrien’s bodyguard and dad, André the ice cream guy and Juleka’s mom after Marinette met them, Marinette’s dad _and_ her uncle…”

“That doesn’t mean anything!” Chloé says. “Lots of people have been akumatized!”

“I’m aware of that, but people at our school are thinking about it. Marinette’s reputation never really recovered after Lila showed up. A lot of people still think she did everything Lila said she did.” Nathaniel sighs. 

Chloé presses her lips together into a thin line, fighting to contain the rage building up in her. “But that’s dumb,” she says when she can speak without shrieking uncontrollably. “Mayura didn’t even show up until Heroes Day!” There’s a definite buzzing sound filling the air.

“People, and by people I mean Lila, say that Marinette has been in cahoots with Hawkmoth since day one, and, now that he completely trusts her, he’s given her a miraculous. And _then_ she pointed out that Marinette showed up at school after lunch that day just as the red butterflies were being released, and that Mayura and Marinette have never been seen together.” Nathaniel scowls as he speaks. “It’s… it’s not good, Chloé. People are really giving Marinette a hard time.”

“I’m gonna kill Lila,” Chloé decides.

“Okay,” Nathaniel says.

They look at each other for a moment.

Then Nathaniel shrugs. “Can I help?”

“Yes,” Chloé says. “But first, I have to yell at a cat and bug for not telling me about this. Come on.”

“Just let me get dressed. Wait outside.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chloé slips outside Nathaniel’s bedroom door and stands there, jiggling her foot with anger. She _warned_ Lila about staying away from Marinette and Adrien. And now that bitch has deliberately gone behind Chloé’s back and spread a bunch of rumors around school that are designed to hit Marinette where it hurts. Well, that’s going to change. Chloé is going to wring that little brat’s neck. 

Nathaniel doesn’t take long, opening the door after a couple minutes. He’s dressed in jeans and a jacket with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He holds a finger to his lips and whispers, “Can you quiet the buzzing down? I don’t want my maman to wake up.”

“I’ll try,” Chloé says through gritted teeth. She focuses on thoughts of punching Lila in the face as she trails Nathaniel through the otherwise quiet apartment. It helps a little.

They walk quickly to the café that Chloé likes. Adrien and Marinette are already there, sharing a booth and a drink. Two other steaming cups are waiting on the table. Chloé slides into the booth first and grabs the drink that’s piled high with whipped cream, completely ignoring the straight black cup of coffee waiting for Nathaniel. She sips from her drink and then holds it in such a way that Pollen can have some whipped cream too without being seen.

“Good morning, Nathaniel,” Marinette says politely.

“Hi Marinette. Hi Adrien,” Nathaniel says. He looks at Chloé, then picks up his menu and opens it up so that he can hide behind it.

“So, I’m going to kill Lila today,” Chloé says casually, just as Marinette takes a huge sip.

Marinette chokes on her drink and starts coughing. Adrien sighs and gently pats her on the back as he looks over at Chloé. “You can’t kill her.”

“Oh, I beg to differ,” Chloé says with a razor sharp smile. Marinette and Adrien are _good_. They’re good in a way that she’s not, and they probably think she’s kidding. She is most definitely not.

“Chloé, be serious,” Marinette says once she’s stopped coughing. “I wondered why you wanted to go get Nathaniel.” She sounds exasperated, and Nathaniel winces.

“It affects the hive. I thought Chloé should know. She would’ve found out when she went to school today anyway,” says Nathaniel, finally lowering his menu enough to look over it.

“He’s right,” Adrien says before Marinette can protest anymore.

“Why did you hide it from me in the first place?” Chloé demands.

“Because I knew you would react this way,” says Marinette. “Threatening Lila will only make things worse. You can’t even tell her off for spreading lies, because technically she isn’t. She’s just… pointing out inconsistencies and coincidences and suggesting one way that it can all be explained.” She hunches in on herself miserably. “If you yell at her, it only make people suspicious. If they look too closely at me, someone could find out who I am.”

“I knew I should’ve tied her to the top of the Eiffel Tower when I had the chance,” Chloé mutters, buzzing angrily into her drink. They can’t let Lila get away with this, but, as much as she hates to admit it, she can also see the merit in what Marinette is saying no matter how much she doesn’t want to. Frankly, it’s probably a miracle no one at school has jumped to the conclusion that Marinette is Ladybug.

Well, no. It’s not a miracle. Chloé is positive that no one at school now thinks highly enough of Marinette to believe she’s Ladybug. They have Lila to thank for that. If it were anyone else, in any other situation, Chloé might actually admire the slow, systematic destruction of Marinette’s reputation. She’s gone from the beloved class president to assumed sidekick of Hawkmoth in like six months.

“So what are we going to do about it?” Nathaniel asks, quite reasonably. 

“What do you mean?” Marinette says.

“Well, we can’t just let people think you’re Mayura,” Nathaniel says.

Adrien and Marinette look at each other. Then Marinette says, “We can’t?”

“Of course we can’t!” Chloé shouts, and all three of them jump. “Are you listening to yourself? Do you even know how much discordance is in the hive right now?! I just – I can’t – ugh!” She grabs at her chest and tries to take slow, deep breaths. It doesn’t help.

“I thought that the rumors might just run their course on their own,” Adrien says hesitantly. “And that things will settle down. That’s what happened last time.”

“Adrikins.” Chloé throws him a look of pure disgust. “Things didn’t _run their course_. Things _festered_. That’s why it’s so much worse now. That kind of shit doesn’t just miraculously go away.”

Marinette’s lower lip trembles. “But what can I do? I can’t be in two places at once. Whenever an akuma shows up, I have no choice but to be Ladybug. I have to fight.”

“Well,” Nathaniel says, “Actually. You can be in two different places at once.”

They look at him, and he mimes putting a flute to his lips and playing.

Chloé’s jaw drops. The Fox miraculous. Of course. She feels like slapping herself in the forehead for being so unbelievably dense as to not have thought of it from the moment Nathaniel told her everything. To be fair, Adrien and Marinette look equally dumbfounded. At least Chloé isn’t the only monumentally stupid person sitting at the table right now.

Their waitress chooses that moment to wander over, and says, “What can I get you, kids?”

“Pancakes with extra syrup and a fruit smoothie,” Chloé says, recovering quickly.

“Uh… same for me. With a side of cheese,” Adrien adds.

“I’m not very hungry,” Marinette says quietly.

Chloé glowers at her. “She’ll have the same as me, and some chocolate chip cookies if you’ve got them,” she says to the waitress. 

Nathaniel clears his throat, trying not to laugh. “Uh, I’ll take a fruit smoothie and your fruit crepe with extra berries.”

“Got it. Thanks.” The waitress takes their menus and retreats.

“Uh, not that it really matters, but can someone explain to me why I’m seriously craving fruit?” Nathaniel asks, looking around. “I snuck into my sister’s room yesterday and ate her blueberry muffin. I know you don’t know my sister, but that’s about as dangerous as trying to fight an akuma without transforming first. I just couldn’t help myself.”

Marinette stops glaring at Chloé to smile at Nathaniel. “It’s because of your miraculous,” she says, somewhat apologetically. “Sometimes there are certain… um, side effects. Take Chloé, for example. She buzzes when she gets angry, just like a bee would, and she craves sweets.”

“I’ve put on like five pounds since I took the Bee miraculous. It sucks,” Chloé mutters.

“Adrien purrs when he’s happy, and he hates water,” Marinette continues, ignoring Chloé. “I’ve developed a fondness for eating flowers, and I can’t stand the cold. Tikki told me that not every miraculous holder gets the same side effects, so you just kind of have to wait and see what happens. The more you transform, the more you bond with your kwami and the higher your likelihood that you’ll get some side effects.”

“But I’ve only transformed a few times,” Nathaniel says. Suddenly, his eyes get really big. “Wait. I’m not going to start screaming in the face of the person I like, am I?”

“Relax, I’m sure Marc would understand,” Chloé says, and gets Nathaniel’s pointed elbow in her ribs for her trouble.

Adrien shrugs. “Like Marinette says, it depends on the person. Next time you have your miraculous, you can ask Trixx about it. He might be able to tell you some of the more common or troublesome side effects to keep an eye on.”

Nathaniel nods. “I’ll do that.”

“Speaking of that, I think you should have your miraculous really soon. Like, the next time an akuma attacks,” Chloé says.

“Do you really think something so simple will work?” Marinette asks doubtfully.

“Why wouldn’t it?” Chloé says.

“Alya knows how the Fox powers work,” Adrien points out.

Chloé scoffs. “She’d actually have to do some work and connect dots that make sense instead of believing spoon-fed lies or making wild leaps. I think that would be too much effort on her part.”

“Chloé,” Adrien says, giving her a look.

“Even if Alya or Nino did realize what was going on, I’m not sure they’d say anything to Lila,” Marinette says.

“Are you sure about that?” Chloé asks, genuinely curious.

Marinette looks uncertain. “I… yes?”

“That sounds so convincing, Marinette, really,” Chloé drawls.

“The solution,” Nathaniel puts in calmly, “is that Marinette will stay and make sure she’s being seen by people, while I’ll create an illusion of Ladybug. Adrien and Chloé can make sure that the illusion isn’t touched by anything that would make it disappear. That way, Marinette can speak and talk to people just like normal for at least five minutes. Then she can run away. That’s not unusual; most people run during akuma attacks. If we do that several times, it might detract from some of the rumors.”

“It makes sense to me. Chloé and I can distract the akuma until you can slip away to join us, Princess,” Adrien says, laying a hand over Marinette’s. 

Marinette looks conflicted. “Do you think that will really work? Won’t people just think that I’m trying to make myself look innocent now?”

“Well, you are. But we can’t just do nothing,” says Chloé. There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence working against Marinette right now. She can’t help the fact that she’s late coming back from attacks, or that people around her tend to get akumatized. Short of Marinette revealing her identity, nothing will remove suspicion from her entirely.

But this is the next best option and it may help to sway at least some people towards rationality. They all go quiet for a couple of minutes, during which the waitress brings over their food. Chloé casually leans forward and props her chin on her hand so that Pollen can sit on the table and eat from the pancakes and syrup too. Adrien stuffs cheese into his pocket; Marinette slides her cookies into her purse. Only Nathaniel just starts eating like everything is normal.

“Okay,” Marinette says finally. “I think that it can’t hurt if we try. Thanks, Nathaniel.”

Nathaniel smiles at her. “It’s no problem, Marinette. I just hope that I can make my illusion of Ladybug look natural.”

“You can practice. It wouldn’t hurt,” says Adrien. “Maybe during our next patrol.”

“You know, it wouldn’t hurt for Adrien and Chat to be seen in the same place too,” Chloé says thoughtfully, sipping from her smoothie. 

“No one suspects me of being Chat,” Adrien says, looking surprised.

Chloé shrugs. “Are you sure about that?”

“She’s right. Maybe we can do that for you a few times once I’m covered,” Marinette says, leaning into Adrien. He wraps his free arm around her shoulders. “It would help to divert suspicion, just in case.”

“Well… alright. So long as Nathaniel doesn’t mind,” Adrien says.

“I am here for all of your Mirage needs,” Nathaniel says solemnly, then completely ruins the effect by taking a loud, obnoxious slurp of his smoothie.

Breakfast buoys them slightly, though Chloé still feels like she’s dragging big time by the time they arrive at school. Nathaniel wanders away from them, heading over to where Marc is sitting. Chloé clutches her extra large coffee in both hands and stations herself near Marinette and Adrien. A couple students start to walk over, then pause when they see the way that Chloé is staring them down. They quickly reverse their path and retreat.

“Chloé,” Marinette says half-heartedly.

“I didn’t even say anything. You can’t stop me from looking,” Chloé says without even glancing at them. Adrien hides his smile with the remainder of his smoothie; Marinette just sighs and rolls her eyes. Chloé takes that as a win and resumes glaring at anyone who comes within three feet of them.


	3. Chapter 3

They spend the weekend making more plans and letting Nathaniel practice. All four of them are on edge waiting for the next akuma attack – but Monday afternoon comes before it happens. Chloé is filing her nails when she hears the screaming coming from outside. All over the classroom, heads pop up. Madame Bustier sighs loudly and tells them all to follow the protocol for akuma attacks, which is basically shorthand for telling them all to get their butts home as quickly as possible. Adrien catches Chloé’s eye with a meaningful look and she nods back.

While Marinette and Nathaniel hang around to make themselves seen, Chloé will distract the akuma. Chat’s job is to get the Fox miraculous to Nathaniel before joining her. Chloé would’ve preferred it be the other way around, with her going to get the Fox miraculous, but she’s pretty sure Marinette is afraid of letting her get too close to Master Fu without supervision.

Which, honestly, is fair.

“Pollen, buzz on!” Chloé calls out as the rest of her classmates flee – seriously, not having to worry about finding a hiding spot is _so_ handy. Queen Bee hurries over to the windows, pushes one up, and launches herself out. She uses her stinger to control her descent, eyeing the akuma.

Her skin crawls when she catches a glimpse of fur, but then the akuma turns around fully and she sees that it's not a bear. Instead, the akuma is a humanoid cat. Unlike Chat, this cat has pink fur, pink ears and a fluffy white tail. Based on the akuma's height - it barely comes up to Queen Bee's waist - she's pegging it as another little kid being taken advantage of by Hawkmoth. Great. These are hands down the worst kind of akumas. She touches down and yanks her stinger back into her hand, spreading her feet for easy balance.

"I want all the kitties in the world!" the akuma cries, throwing its hand out. Pink sparkles explode from its fingers and hit a couple of students. Immediately, the students turn into kittens that start meowing loudly.

"You have got to be kidding me," Queen Bee says in disbelief. 

The akuma turns towards her and frowns ferociously. "I said kitties, not bees!"

"Queen Bee, look out!"

Even before she registers the fact that the akuma is moving to attack, Queen Bee is moving. Weeks of akuma battles have taught her body to respond automatically to _that_ voice. She throws herself to the side, letting the explosion of pink sparkles shower harmlessly against the ground, and looks up to see Marinette standing a few feet away at just the right angle to be caught on the video Alya is recording. Better yet, a few students are nudging each other and pointing to Marinette. Even Alya looks surprised to see her there, and keeps looking back and forth between Marinette and Queen Bee. 

"Pay attention to me!" the akuma shrieks, and Queen Bee's attention snaps away from Marinette and the other students.

She doesn't see Chat come back, too busy dodging fast attacks and a faster temper, but it's pretty hard to miss Chat's cackle when he catches a glimpse of the akuma. He and the faux Ladybug jump down to join Queen Bee. The akuma shrieks in rage at the sight of the new heroes. Queen Bee makes sure she lands between the faux Ladybug and Alya's phone as the three of them jump away, because if anyone could peg the faux Ladybug as a mirage it would be Alya. The less chance Alya has to focus on the faux Ladybug, the better. And that means it's time for the next part of their plan.

"I guess it's true that everyone wants to be a cat!" Chat calls out tauntingly to the akuma. Faux Ladybug rolls her eyes in an uncommonly good mimicry of the real Ladybug – Filou’s practice has definitely paid off.

Queen Bee turns to the students. "What the hell are you all still doing here?!" she bellows. "Run! Get out of here unless you want to be turned into a cat!"

Naturally, Alya and Nino completely ignore that. But most of the other students take off, and Marinette goes with them. Moments later, the faux Ladybug goes momentarily out of sight behind a tree. Queen Bee's pretty sure that the Ladybug who emerges is the real one; her suspicion is confirmed when Ladybug takes two steps forward and sharply throws out her yoyo. It wraps around the akuma several times, binding its arms together, and lets Chat get close enough to grab a cat-shaped pin off the front of the akuma's pinafore.

"Cataclysm!" he shouts. The pin dissolves and the butterfly flies out.

"I free you from evil! Gotcha! Bye bye, little butterfly." Ladybug smiles up at the white butterfly as it flutters away.

"They're all so cute," Chat coos, going to his knees as the students-turned-kitties cluster around him. He nearly gets buried under a pile of fur.

Ladybug and Queen Bee exchange a look, and Queen Bee says, "You know you're looking at your future, right? You're gonna have like, a billion kittens someday."

"And to think I used to prefer dogs," Ladybug says with a smirk. "Lucky Charm!" She throws her yoyo straight up and catches the small white ball that falls. She throws the ball up too, shouting, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The kitties around Chat all change back into humans. The akuma turns back into a little girl, probably about five years old, who immediately starts bawling. Chat frees himself of the students and walks over and scoops her up, and within seconds she's giggling happily and gently petting at his ears. Queen Bee catches a glimpse of the utterly _soppy_ look on Ladybug's face and privately rolls her own eyes. Those two are going to be utterly insufferable once they're old enough to get married and have kids.

Honestly, for her own sanity, she kind of hopes that by that point she has a job on the other side of the world.

"So what happened, honey?" Chat asks.

"I just wanted a kitty and my maman said no," the kid says, pouting.

Chat mock-gasps. "She said no? Mon dieu. Who doesn't want a kitty in their life? Ladybug can attest; we're simply the best! Right, My Lady?"

"Oh yes," Ladybug says dryly, walking over. "Completely. Now come on, _Chaton_, we have to -"

Because she’s standing further back, Queen Bee sees it before anyone else; she leaps forward, grabbing Ladybug around the waist and pulling her to the ground. The feather sails over them, missing Ladybug’s ribs by mere inches, and hits the concrete with a soft _thwack_. The two of them stare at the feather for a moment: it stands straight up, the tip so sharp it’s been driven into the ground several inches.

“Just goes to show you, bees really _do_ ruin everything.”

Ladybug tenses and Queen Bee rolls over, looking up instinctively. Her eyes widen at the sight of the miraculous holder standing atop the school. To Queen Bee's experienced eye, Mayura looks different. She's shorter, her hair is longer, and her expression is pure malevolence. But to the average person who hasn't seen Mayura close up, Queen Bee gets how they might not have noticed that the Peacock miraculous has _clearly_ changed hands. That begs the question then, where is the old Mayura?

"Mayura!" Ladybug says, nimbly leaping to her feet. She starts swinging her yoyo. The students who were freed from the akuma’s control start screaming and run for it.

"Alya, you've got to get out of here!"

It's a little odd to hear Marinette's voice when Ladybug is standing right next to her. Queen Bee actually has to double check to make sure Ladybug is still there - and she is, looking just as surprised as Queen Bee feels. They both look over to see Marinette Dupain-Cheng standing at the front gates. Immediately, Queen Bee realizes that Filou must have detransformed after creating the faux Ladybug, fed Trixx, and then retransformed in order to use Mirage a second time. 

"Marinette!" Alya exclaims. She and Nino are 'hiding' behind some of the bushes that border the yard. Alya straightens up, lifting her phone, and points it at Marinette before turning to look at Mayura.

"How dare you?!" Mayura shrieks, sounding livid, and leaps at Marinette.

"Marinette, run!" Nino screams.

"Marinette!" Alya cries.

Queen Bee launches herself forward without even thinking about it, tackling Mayura to the ground. It's gratifying to hear Mayura screaming with fury; it gets less fun when Mayura knees Queen Bee in the stomach and knocks all the breath out of her, giving Mayura the opportunity to scramble to her feet. She grabs her hand fan, unfurling it with a flick of her wrist, and grasps a white feather. It turns blue as she pulls it free and Queen Bee tenses, sweeping her eyes over the yard in an effort to figure out who Mayura's victim is going to be -

"I'll give you something to deal with," Mayura seethes.

"Oh no you don't!" Ladybug's yoyo whizzes past Queen Bee's face, knocking the amok out of Mayura's hand. It floats harmlessly through the air and is promptly snapped up by Ladybug's yoyo.

"Still wanna fight, Mayura?" Queen Bee demands, jumping up.

Furious isn't enough to describe the look on Mayura's face right then. "I hate you, Ladybug!" She jumps straight up, landing back on the rooftop of the school, and then flings herself over the back.

Immediately, Queen Bee gives chase. It takes her barely twenty seconds to make it to the top of the school, but Mayura is already gone. She swears under her breath, idly rubbing at her midsection. That went hideously. None of them were prepared for Mayura to show up and they missed the perfect chance to corner her and get the Peacock miraculous back! Instead, they've allowed her to escape. About the only thing that went right is the fact that they now have footage of what everyone will think is Mayura and Marinette in the same place at the same time.

"Damn it," she hisses to herself, turning back around to look below. Chat, Ladybug, and the faux Marinette are all gone. Alya and Nino are running towards the gates. Queen Bee leaps back down to the ground and watches them turn towards the bakery.

"Pollen, buzz off," she says with a sigh. Yellow light flows over her and collaesces into Pollen.

"What's wrong, Chloé?" Pollen asks.

"I'm mad we let Mayura get away. I should've realized she might be hanging around." Chloé crosses her arms over her chest. "And I'm confused too. That's not the Mayura that we're used to. She looked different. Why would the original Mayura hand the Peacock miraculous to someone else?"

"Maybe it was stolen," Pollen suggests. "Maybe Mayura didn't give it up at all."

"But then why would this new girl show up claiming to be Mayura? And why did they look almost exactly the same except for hairstyle and height? It doesn't make any sense. Don't most miraculous holders look pretty different?" Chloé throws her hands up in frustration. Volpina and Rena Rouge looked similar, but their costumes had slight differences. And Filou's is completely different. That can't just be because he's a guy.

"Well, yes. Your costume as Queen Bee looks the way it does because that's what you thought it should look like," says Pollen. "We always take our holder's preferences into account when we transform them. If this Mayura and the old Mayura look similar, it's because the new Mayura wanted it to be that way."

"But _why_?!" Chloé huffs to herself. Quizzing her kwami is pointless; Pollen doesn’t know any more than Chloé does, and standing out here when Mayura is around is probably a bad idea. She scowls and, after scooping up Pollen, walks out the gate and turns towards the bakery.

She makes it there just in time to see Marinette, the real one this time, pacifying their classmates, saying, “It’s okay. Chat Noir got me out of the way in time. I’m fine.”

“But that was so dangerous! You could’ve been killed! Mayura was really going for you,” Alya says, clutching her phone with both hands.

“And you were just so worried that you couldn’t put your phone down, right?” Chloé drawls, walking up behind them.

Alya immediately turns and scowls. “What do you want?”

“For your information, I need a snack after that battle,” Chloé says. “Since I helped to save Marinette’s butt, I thought she might give me a deal.”

Behind Alya’s and Nino’s backs, Marinette rolls her eyes. “Sure, why not?”

“Marinette?” Nino says, looking at her.

Marinette doesn’t look at him. “Come on, Chloé. I texted Adrien. He’s on his way over, too.” She takes Chloé’s arm and practically drags Chloé into the bakery, letting the door swing shut on the twin baffled, hurt expressions Nino and Alya are currently sporting.

“Harsh. I like it,” Chloé says as she’s dragged up behind the counter and up the stairs.

“Shut up. I hate that you’re rubbing off on me,” Marinette says, but she doesn’t sound very angry. “Go up to my room. Nath’s already there. I’ll grab some food for our kwami and meet you up there.”


	4. Chapter 4

Not that she wants to get into the habit of obeying Marinette outside of their suits, but just this once Chloé does as she’s told. She clambers up the ladder into Marinette’s room and finds Nathaniel sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wall with his eyes shut. Trixx is draped over Nathaniel’s right knee, looking as exhausted as a little fox kwami can look.

Pollen pops out of Chloé’s pocket and flies over to Trixx. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just tired,” Trixx says wearily. “That’s more of a work-out than I’ve had in centuries, and especially with an inexperienced holder. No offence, Nath.”

“None taken,” Nathaniel says, lifting a hand and gently stroking a finger down Trixx’s back. “Sorry, Trixx.”

“It was good thinking,” Chloé says, moving to sit on Marinette’s chaise. She is not planning to sit on the floor, thank you very much. “Now Césaire’s got footage of Marinette and Mayura in the same place. It’ll be pretty hard for anyone to refute that.”

Nathaniel seems surprised by the compliment, but nods. “Thanks. That’s what I was thinking when I saw Mayura show up out of nowhere. It was too good of an opportunity to show up. I’m just glad I had an apple on me that Trixx was willing to accept.”

“Did anyone see the faux Marinette disappear?” Chloé asks, narrowing her eyes.

“I don’t think so. I made the mirage run away as soon as you tackled Mayura. Chat ran after it; he was trying to get that little girl out of the way too. So all anyone saw was Chat chasing Marinette into an alley. I suppose that little girl might’ve seen my mirage fade away, but if she did I doubt she’ll understand what it means or tell anyone about it.” Nathaniel shrugs a shoulder.

“Fair. Well, Césaire certainly thought it was real. She and Lahiffe were downstairs trying to make sure Marinette was okay when I got here,” Chloé says, full of disdain. It’s too little too late as far as she’s concerned.

“And what did Marinette think of that?” Nathaniel says, a small smile crossing his face.

They both know that Marinette has pretty much reached the limits of her patience with their classmates, particularly Alya and Nino. What’s funny, or sad depending on how you look at it, is that none of _them_ to realize that. When Chloé walked up, she saw and recognized the confusion on Marinette’s face for what it was: Marinette was genuinely surprised that Alya and Nino had been worried about her. But she doesn’t think that Alya or Nino realized what was going on.

“I think Marinette knows she can do better than people who aren’t willing to listen to her or take her word over a strangers,” Chloé replies, knowing exactly how ironic the current situation is.

For years _Chloé_ was the one who made Marinette’s life miserable, though not quite the same way that Lila has. Chloé has never seen the point in lying about other people. Not only are lies are too easily misproven, they’re complicated. It takes someone far more skilled than Lila Rossi to stay on top of an intricate web of lies. Chloé’s just waiting for the moment when their dumbass classmates finally figure out that a lot of what Lila says is unintentionally contradictory. If anyone would just pay an ounce of attention –

But perhaps that’s asking too much. They all like being spoon-fed exactly what they want to hear, apparently. It just baffles Chloé that no one outside of their small circle has clued in yet. Instead, they’re all blindly buying into one of Lila’s biggest lies of all. Marinette as Mayura? Seriously? How could anyone look at a complete do-gooder like Marinette Dupain-Cheng and ever think she could be on Hawkmoth’s side?

Frankly, if Lila had been smart, she would’ve started a rumor that Chloé was Mayura. Most people don’t know enough about the miraculous to know whether a person can wield two at the same time, but everyone at their school knows that Chloé can be a complete bitch. She doesn’t have much regard for other people and she’s not ashamed to admit it. She wants what she wants and don’t care who she has to step on to get it or what arms she has to twist. People would’ve totally bought that rumor and it might’ve done damage to Chloé’s credence as Queen Bee.

Then again… people thinking Chloé is Mayura wouldn’t bother her. Chloé’s used to people whispering about her; she’s used to the smarmy little comments people make and the fact that most people genuinely do not like her. Marinette, on the other hand, goes out of her way to be kind to everyone and takes pride in being a warm, welcoming person. This whole Mayura thing is clearly killing her. In that respect, Lila scored a direct hit.

She crosses one leg over the other and leans forward, placing her elbow on her knee and her chin on her elbow. Lila is a totally different kettle of fish from Chloé. Whereas Chloé is of the opinion that it’s so much more fun to find out the _truth_ and wait for just the right moment to strike, Lila is all about the instant gratification of a lie. She doesn’t have the patience to lay a trap and let her victim wander into it; she wants a reaction right then and there. That’s why she spews out lie after lie after lie.

Hasn’t she ever learned how empty instant gratification is? It feels _so_ much better to smugly point out that Alya is a shitty journalist who never verifies her sources and therefore has no future in that line of work, rather than spread a lie that Chloé knows a famous journalist who can fast track Alya’s future. One of those methods can make waves for weeks, if not months, whereas the other one is noteworthy for all of ten minutes.

It aso begs the question: has no one ever called Lila out on all of these lies? Hasn’t anyone ever asked her why these famous people don’t drop by to see her when they’re in Paris? Or asked when all of these spectacular meetings are going to be taking place? Hell, why hasn’t Alya ever asked Ladybug if Lila is telling the truth? Wouldn’t it matter more if a declaration like that was coming from Ladybug instead of Lila? And Alya really has no excuse. Ladybug totally would’ve given her a sound clip, if not an actual video, though it wouldn’t have held the information Alya thought that it would.

“Uh, what is she doing?” Nathaniel whispers to Pollen. “It’s been like five minutes and she hasn’t said anything, and she’s glaring at that Volpina doll so hard I think she’s going to set it on fire.”

“She’s ranting on the inside,” Pollen says calmly, patting Nathaniel’s left knee where she’s taken a seat. “Just let it happen.”

“I am not ranting,” Chloé grumbles. “I’m trying to figure out why people are so fucking stupid.”

“If you figure that out, let me know,” Nathaniel says.

“If we figure what out?” Marinette’s head pops up through the floor. She climbs up, then reaches back down to lift up a tray. Adrien follows a moment later, pushing the trap door shut while Marinette sets the tray on her desk. Instantly four hungry kwami descend on the cookies, honey crackers, fruit and cheese laid out.

“Why we go to a school with a bunch of brain dead dumbasses,” Chloé says bitterly.

“Chloé,” Adrien says, giving her a look. She sticks her tongue out in retaliation.

“People like it when they’re told what they want to hear,” says Plagg, grabbing a huge chunk of cheese and swallowing it whole. “People _want_ to believe that Lila is telling the truth, because she’s not telling them anything bad. Who wouldn’t want to believe that they can fast-track their way to success?”

“That was surprisingly insightful,” Adrien says.

“Plagg used to lie to his holders a lot,” says Tikki.

Plagg sputters. “I did not!”

“Yes, you did,” Trixx says, looking better after having eaten some fruit. “Ah, the good old days.” He looks dreamy as he bites into a fat berry.

“You haven’t lied to me, have you?” Adrien says, narrowing his eyes.

“Of course not!” Plagg says quickly. Too quickly.

“Plagg…” Adrien says warningly.

Chloé ignores Plagg’s sputtering in favor of bringing up the Ladyblog. A smug smile crosses her face when she sees that there’s already a new blog post with today’s footage. Marinette sits down beside her to watch, and then Adrien drapes himself over their backs, and even Nathaniel scoots over to lean against Chloé’s knee. She privately rolls her eyes but holds her phone so they can all see.

Fortunately, Alya turns out to be good for one thing at least. The video captures Marinette perfectly during the akuma attack – with faux Ladybug in the background, no less – and then again after Mayura shows up. It even shows Mayura diving for Marinette. Unfortunately it doesn’t have Queen Bee’s spectacular tackle of Mayura, so Alya definitely loses points for that one.

“Huh,” Marinette says thoughtfully. “Do you mind if I –” She takes the phone out of Chloé’s hands and rewinds the video a bit, then presses play.

“Excuse you,” Chloé says, grabbing her phone back.

“What’s wrong?” Adrien asks.

“Mayura acted like she knew me,” says Marinette, frowning. “She attacked _me_… or she would’ve if Queen Bee hadn’t stopped her. Why would she do that? Why wouldn’t she go after Ladybug or one of you guys instead?”

“Maybe this Mayura has something different in mind,” says Chloé. “Maybe she’s not helping Hawkmoth anymore.”

They all look at each other. Then Nathaniel says slowly, “I never fought against the old Mayura, but wouldn’t it be pretty unlikely that Hawkmoth would just give a miraculous away? Maybe this new Mayura _stole_ the Peacock miraculous.”

“Isn’t the Peacock miraculous damaged?” Adrien says, turning to look at their kwamis.

Plagg, Tikki, Trixx and Pollen all exchange looks, but in the end it’s Tikki who speaks. “Yes, Master Fu believes that it’s damaged. We haven’t seen Dusuu for a very long time so we don’t know exactly what’s wrong with it, but any miraculous that’s not functioning properly is very dangerous to use.”

“Dangerous how?” Marinette asks.

“It could kill you,” Trixx says bluntly.

“What – are you serious?!” Nathaniel says, reeling back in shock. Even Chloé is stunned silent, staring at Pollen with wide eyes. Pollen meets her gaze and gives a single nod.

“Very serious.” Trixx pops a blueberry into his mouth, chews noisily, and swallows.

“The miraculous aren’t something mess around with,” Pollen pipes up. “Especially in the case of something like the Peacock.”

“Why’s the Peacock so special?” Chloé asks, not sure she wants to know the answer.

“The Peacock deals with the soul. An amok takes an emotion that you’re feeling and amplifies it. That’s why the Peacock, like the Butterfly, is so easily turned to evil. All emotions can be good or bad,” Tikki explains. “Unfortunately, that also means any damage to it would be reflected back against its holder’s soul. If the damage were severe enough, it could destroy the soul entirely.”

Marinette flinches. “And… and what would happen to the holder if that happened?”

“They would more than likely die,” Tikki says, almost gently, and Marinette shudders. Adrien’s arm around her tightens.

“But… but that would take a long time, right?” Chloé says. “It would take like… like months.” But already, Pollen is shaking her head.

However, it’s Plagg that speaks. “The older a holder gets, the more their bodies are equipped to handle the backlash that comes from using a miraculous. That’s why Hawkmoth is able to stay transformed even after using his power; his energy and soul are better able to sustain Nooroo than you all are, though you’re getting better.” He said this with a smile in Adrien’s direction. “You’d all agree the new Mayura looked pretty young, right?”

For some reason, Nathaniel, Adrien and Marinette all look at Chloé. She swallows hard. “Uh, yeah. I guess.”

“If Mayura is your age, and new to using a miraculous on top of that, one or two more uses of the Peacock miraculous could kill her. Especially if her soul is weak,” Tikki tells them.

“Oh my god,” Adrien whispers.

“Then we have to find her,” Nathaniel says at the same time. “We… we have to _warn_ her.”

Marinette and Adrien nod in agreement, both of them wearing identical fierce expressions, but Chloé isn’t so sure it’ll be that easy. Mayura clearly wasn’t looking to have a casual conversation last time. How are they ever going to get her to calm down enough to listen? And even if they do, it’s unlikely that she’ll actually believe them. She’ll just think that they’re lying to get her to give up her miraculous. 

She doesn’t say as much, though. She hopes she’s wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the week is relatively quiet, but only because there are no akumas and Lila is out sick on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which means she can’t fan the rumors about Marinette. Alya puts her video of the akuma attack on the Ladyblog, and it’s all over the school by mid-morning that Marinette and Mayura were filmed in the same place. The gossip dies down considerably and, for the first time in a long time, Marinette actually starts smiling at school again.

Despite that victory, Chloé can’t shake the feeling that she’s walking on tenterhooks, waiting for the proverbial ax to fall, and it makes her uncomfortable. She’s just not sure which ax is going to strike first. In spite of the fatigue, she almost hopes that it’s an akuma. Naturally, it turns out to be Lila.

She shows up on Friday morning, and Rose and Sabrina practically trip over their own two feet to get to her. Chloé rolls her eyes, refusing to admit that it stings a little that Sabrina has almost completely jumped ship to trail around after Lila. In a way it's sort of convenient, because being a miraculous holder is actually taking up the majority of Chloé's free time, but that doesn't mean it's not an insult to know she's lost something to Lila, of all people.

"Are you okay, Lila?" Rose gushes, taking Lila's hand and looking at her worriedly. "You're so pale."

"I'm okay." Lila gives a brave, totally fake smile, but leans heavily on Sabrina as she enters the classroom.

"You don't look okay," Alya observes, standing back to let Rose and Sabrina help Lila over to her seat. Lila sits down with a dramatic little sigh that makes Chloé roll her eyes. She doesn't need to look over to see that Marinette is probably doing the exact same thing.

"I've just been a little sick. The doctors aren't sure what's wrong with me yet," Lila says; Chloé has to give her credit, the girl's got the art of pitching her voice so that it reaches the ears of pretty much everyone in the class down pat. The idle chatter around them dies down as the rest of their classmates turn around to pay attention to Lila, which is exactly what Lila wanted even if she gives an embarrassed little huff and ducks her head.

This time even _Adrien_ rolls his eyes.

"Oh my gosh, Lila, what happened?" Mylène asks, playing right into Lila’s hands.

"I don't know. I just started feeling really off on Tuesday morning. My mom had to rush me to the hospital," Lila says. "They've been running tests on me. At one point, they thought they might have to rush me into surgery."

Rose, Alya and Mylène gasp in unison.

"But they didn't?" Kim asks. "Do you have a cool new scar?"

"Not yet, but… they haven't ruled surgery out yet. If that happens, I might have to miss months of school. I don't know how I'll ever keep up," Lila says, her eyes filling with fake tears.

Apparently that is Nathaniel's breaking point. He slides out from where he usually sits beside Ivan and slinks up the steps, throwing himself and his backpack down beside Chloé. Chloé eyes him, uncertain if she likes this new intrusion into her space, but the annoyed look on Nathaniel's face is enough to make her hold her tongue. After all, exposure to Lila would be enough to try the patience of a saint. At least when you're at the very back of the classroom, you can pretend that you're watching a play with an overly dramatic, fake liar of a lead acctress.

"Oh, don't worry, Lila! We'll all help you study," Max says immediately.

"That's right! We'll do whatever we can," Rosa says, clutching at Lila's hand. "You don't need to worry about that at all."

Lila sniffs loudly and wipes her eyes. "You guys are the best. Thank you so much. It's nice to know I can depend on you." She looks around, attention zeroing in on Adrien. "Oh, Adrien, maybe you and I could partner up for that presentation that we have to do. It would make me feel better if I knew I had a good, solid partner to lean on."

"Sorry, Lila. Adrien is partnering with me," Marinette says through gritted teeth.

Alya frowns up at them. "Marinette, come on. Surely you could let Adrien be with Lila this one time."

And yeah, okay, hell no. "Actually, it's not Marinette's choice," Chloé says sweetly. "Adrien gets to decide who he partners with and he's already picked Marinette."

"That's right," says Adrien, nodding.

Alya opens her big mouth again, but Chloé smoothly cuts her off by adding, "Besides, it's not a good idea for Rossi to lean on Adrien when Adrien has to miss a lot of classtime because of his job. He also has a ton of extracurricular activities. He doesn't have the time to carry anyone. So why don't you pair up with someone like Césaire, who apparently has ample time to throw around?"

Lila looks pissed for a split second, but the emotion in her face quickly dies away as she turns to Alya. "Oh, Alya, that would be wonderful."

It's hilarious to see how trapped Alya looks; she can't say no because then she'll risk looking like a huge bitch, but it's blatantly obvious that she doesn't want to say yes. Chloé can practically see the wheels spinning as Alya tries to figure out a graceful way to avoid doing the whole presentation while Lila sits back and smiles expectantly. Aya looks around for help, but not even Nino will meet her eyes.

Chloé smirks and, out of the corner of her eyes, catches a glimpse of Nathaniel hiding a smirk of his own behind his sketchbook. Across the aisle, Marinette is outright grinning. Adrien is the only one of them who is able to school his face into a somewhat neutral expression, though the glitter of mischief in his eyes speaks volumes and Chloé knows he’s cackling on the inside.

“Come on, Césaire,” Chloé goads, because she can’t leave well enough alone. “Surely you can be partners with Rossi this one time, right?”

“Sure,” Alya says finally, with an air of defeat. “I can do that, if Nino doesn’t mind partnering up with someone else.”

“I can totally find another partner,” Nino says quickly.

“Great!” Lila says with a sunny smile. “That’s going to take so much stress off of me, Alya. The doctors all told me that I have to be really careful how much energy I put into things right now. They didn’t even want me coming to school, but I insisted. I can’t fall behind.” She sighs loudly. “But it does mean I have to go right home to bed after school.”

The expression on Alya’s face is fantastic; Lila is all but explicitly saying that she’s going to be absolutely no help on the presentation and that Alya will have to do the whole thing herself. Nathaniel snorts into his sketchbook and Marinette claps a hand over her mouth. Chloé swallows the giggles building up in her chest through sheer effort, though that gets a lot harder when she catches Adrien’s eye and he winks.

“I see,” Alya says, now looking completely depressed.

“How awful. I hope you’re not too sick, Lila,” Rose says.

Madame Bustier chooses that moment to walk in. She frowns and looks at Lila. “You’re still not feeling well?”

“I’m okay right now. I just get a little shaky sometimes,” Lila explains. Turning her head away, she covers her mouth with her free hand and gives a couple of little coughs that are totally fake, but everyone else, including Madame Bustier, seem to fall for the routine hook, line and sinker.

“Well, don’t push yourself too hard. If you need anything, you just let me know,” Madame Bustier says.

“Thank you,” Lila says, with just the right amount of gratitude.

It’s probably a good thing, Chloé reflects, that Adrien never moved back to the front of the classroom. Because otherwise, she knows that Lila would be gunning to sit next to him right now. The only saving grace is that it makes no sense for Lila to move to the back of the room. Still, that doesn’t stop Rose and Sabrina from switching places so that Rose is next to Lila and can fawn all over her and Sabrina is beside Juleka.

Interestingly, Juleka doesn’t look happy. In fact, Chloé would almost wager to say she looks… _jealous_. Now that’s a juicy tidbit to file away and think about later. Rose and Juleka have always been extremely close. It’s not surprising that Lila’s got her hooks into Rose and is disrupting things between them, but it is noteworthy that Juleka is aware enough to be mad about it. And it’s not the first time that Juleka’s reacted that way, either. Perhaps Juleka isn’t as taken in by Lila Rossi as Chloé always assumed that she was.

“Alright class, let’s begin,” Madame Bustier says, moving to the front of the classroom. “We’ve got a test this morning, so everyone close your books and take your pencils out.”

She moves around the classroom, handing out the papers. She pauses when she gets to Chloé and Nathaniel, a puzzled look on her face as she takes in Nathaniel’s new position, but she doesn’t send Nathaniel back to his previous spot. Instead, she just gives each of them a test and turns to Adrien and Marinette. Chloé flips the test over, leans her head on her hand, and resigns herself to an hour of struggling through math.

Come lunch time, she’s mentally and emotionally exhausted. Adrien gets called away for a photoshoot, and Nathaniel wanders away clutching his sketchbook with that dumb look on his face that means he’s thinking about either a sketch or Marc. Chloé walks past the cafeteria and pauses at the door, staring at the seriously pathetic sight of Marinette sitting alone while all of their classmates dwell over Lila.

That _feeling_ wells up in Chloé’s chest. She catches her breath and scowls, placing a hand over her chest in frustration. There’s something off in the hive, but for once she doesn’t need to wonder what it is. Marinette’s misery is blatantly obvious for even a blind person to see. It would be easy to ignore it, even if it would mean that lingering sense of discordance would plague her well into the night –

“Fuck’s sake,” Chloé hisses under her breath, stalking into the cafeteria and right over to Marinette.

“Can I help you?” Marinette says, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Come on. We’re going out for lunch,” Chloé snaps.

Marinette looks at her like Chloé has turned purple and goes, “We are?”

“Yes. We are.” Chloé stares her down, daring Marinette to argue. The thought of spending lunch together isn’t exactly pleasing; Chloé would much rather go home and nap for a while instead. 

Hmm. Nap. They _are_ all exhausted. Chloé contemplates this for a few seconds. On the one hand, she’s setting the bar seriously low here. On the other hand, Chloé is nothing if not good at getting what she wants. And there is an obvious answer here.

“I don’t think,” Marinette starts.

“I have a king size bed and the power to make sure no one bothers us,” Chloé says, cutting her off. “I know you don’t usually share a bed with anyone but Adrien, but I’m sure you can make an exception in exchange for the chane to have an uninterrupted power nap.”

There’s a pause during which Marinette looks at Chloé, and then she looks over at Lila. Like a reigning queen, Lila is sitting at a table while Ivan clumsily brings her lunch on a tray. Alya and Nino are sitting to Lila’s left, totally wrapped up in each other. Everyone else is paying attention to their own activities. None of them are paying even a speck of attention to the fact that Marinette is over here by herself.

“Sure, why not,” Marinette says finally. She grabs her tray and stands up, dumping it in the garbage. “Let’s go.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am soooo excited about these next couple chapters!

The beeping of her phone drags Chloé out of a well deserved sleep. She lurches upwards, looking blearily around her darkened bedroom. Pollen is sound asleep inside her hive. The room is otherwise quiet, save for the obnoxious beeping that signifies someone is texting her. Chloé growls under her breath and stretches out a hand to grab her phone, wincing as the screen lights up full blast at - she glances grumpily at the clock - 4am. Rubbing her eyes, she lowers her gaze to squint at the screen.

**Unknown** we have a major problem

**Unknown** you need to get here soon

**Unknown** BRING HELP

**Unknown** eyes everywhere

"What.. the fuck?" Chloé mutters to herself, sitting up fully. Her phone says it's an unknown caller, but from the nature of the texts she's pretty sure it's either Ladybug or Chat. It could be Hawkmoth or Mayura laying out a trap, except that no location is specified. And what the hell does 'eyes everywhere' mean?

"Chloé? What's going on?" Pollen asks sleepily, making an adorably soft buzzing sound.

"I don't know. Where's my remote?" She casts around until she locates her remote, shoved halfway under her pillow, and turns the television on. Her eyes go wide and her jaw drops when she sees the news story.

There's an akuma taunting Paris, which explains the weird text messages. According to Nadja Chamack, on seen and gaining footage, this akuma has the power to see everything. Literally. The screen shows Ladybug and Filou running down a street. Hundreds of pairs of eyes, both human and animal, appear on the walls, the street, the lamp posts - literally _everywhere_. The eyes are tracking the every move of the miraculous holders. It's simultaneously kind of cool and the creepiest thing that Chloé's ever seen, and she can tell from just a quick glance that Ladybug and Filou are similarly freaked out.

She barely has the time to wonder where Chat is before his baton snaps into view. Ladybug grabs the end of it, and Filou grabs her, and Chat yanks them both into the sky - and the eyes _follow_ them, racing up the buildings as fast as the three miraculous holders can move. Then, suddenly, that scene cuts out and it flashes over to a helicopter view of the city. An akuma stands at the top of the Eiffel Tower. It's completely white in color, with no face: just a blank mask. Chloé shudders.

"That looks serious. We should get there right away!" Pollen exclaims.

"Why, so we can get stalked by the creepy akuma too?" Chloé asks, nevertheless throwing her blankets back and leaping out of bed. Her mind is racing. She assumes now that it was Chat who texted her, and he told her to bring help. Since Filou is already with them, does that mean he wants her to bring someone else? Who?

Ugh, this is gonna mean another visit to Master Fu, isn't it?

Queen Bee won't necessarily be helpful against an akuma that literally has eyes everywhere in the city. It's easy to see why Ladybug, Chat and Filou are having trouble, given that they can't get anywhere _near_ the akuma without their every move being seen. And, she realizes with a sudden chill, they have to be extremely careful about using their powers, because the akuma could easily see them detransforming. It doesn't seem to have any limits about being able to use its eyes. That means Chloé has to hurry and get her ass in gear.

She runs over to her closet and rummages around until she finds a blue sweatshirt that she thinks probably belonged to Adrien at some point. It's baggy and too big for her, but it also doesn't look like something Chloé Bourgeois would wear. Plus, it's got a hood. Chloé yanks it on and pulls the hood up over her loose hair, making sure that it covers her face too. Then she gestures for Pollen to hide in the front pouch. With her hair and face covered, wearing a sweatshirt, pajama bottoms and sneakers, there's no way the akuma is going to know who she is.

Considering it's 4am, Paris is strangely busy what with all the people who are outside to see what the latest akuma is doing. Chloé shoves her hands in her pockets, ducks her head and starts fast walking. She keeps glancing around for eyes as she walks, but she doesn't see anything. All she can do is hope like hell that the akuma can't create eyes that are invisible, or she's about to lead Hawkmoth right to Master Fu's door. 

It takes her about twenty minutes to get there, which is eighteen minutes slower than it would've been if she were traveling as Queen Bee, and she knocks frantically on the door. Master Fu, to his credit, opens it on the third or fourth knock, wearing a very grim expression. He beckons her quickly inside and shuts the door behind her like he's trying to shut out the akuma too, only Chloé doesn't think it's that easy. A closed door or window isn't going to stop an akuma like that from seeing whatever it wants to see. 

"I was expecting Ladybug," he says, leading her into the same room as before.

"Yeah, I don't think she's capable of getting here right now without being seen," Chloé says. Pollen emerges from her hiding spot and waves at Wayzz, who returns the greeting.

Master Fu frowns. "That's true. I suppose you've come from a miraculous. I've never given one out to anyone who isn't Ladybug." The dubious look he gives her speaks volumes about how he feels about giving another miraculous to her, of all people. 

Chloé scowls back. "I'm all you're getting and we need help, so cough it up."

"So impudent!" Wayzz exclaims, sounding morally offended.

"No, she's right," Master Fu says before Chloé can respond. "I hate to put more of the miraculous out into circulation, but in this case I don't think we have a choice. This akuma is a tricky one indeed." He shuffles over to a phonograph and picks it up, surprisingly nimble for such an old man, and brings it over to the table. He gestures for her to kneel. Chloé holds in a sigh of frustration and obeys.

"Is this going to take long? Cause I mean, I'm kind of on a time crunch," she says.

"No, it won't take long," he says, looking slightly amused, and presses a series of buttons on the phonograph. The top of it lifts off and Chloé looks at what's underneath with amazement. The innermost, raised part is clearly where the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses are meant to be. Five petals surround the circle, including a spot for the Bee miraculous and Fox miraculous. All of those compartments are empty, since Master Fu is wearing the Turtle miraculous and the Butterfly and Peacock miraculouses are both missing. 

Expanding out from around the middle are twelve extra compartments, each holding a miraculous that Chloé has never seen before. She honestly didn't expect there to be so many, and the sight of them all takes her breath away. A strange pressure settles over her as she looks them over. How is she supposed to choose which one to use? How does Ladybug pick them? Does she just grab one on a whim and hope that she's made the right choice? What if she makes the wrong choice and screws them all over?

"Chloé Bourgeois," Master Fu says, and she looks up at him. "Pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission. Choose wisely, because such powers are designed to serve a greater good and not everyone is equipped to handle them. You have seen what happens when the power of a miraculous falls into the wrong hand; Hawkmoth and Mayura are a warning that you should not take lightly." His eyes bore into her. "Once the mission is over, you must retrieve the Miraculous from your chosen ally and bring it back to me. They must not be allowed to keep their miraculous. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Chloé says, swallowing hard. "I don't know anything about them. What one should I pick?"

Master Fu blinks, and then smiles. "Ah, yes. My apologies. I've taught Marinette about the different miraculouses and their powers."

"Maybe you should teach the rest of us too," Chloé says. "Just... in case."

He gives her an odd look, then reaches out and picks up a [panja bracelet](https://miraculousladybug.fandom.com/wiki/Tiger_Miraculous) from the fuchsia compartment. "This is the Tiger miraculous. It grants the power of invisibility for five minutes, to better allow the Tiger to hunt its prey. I think it will be ideally suited to your needs."

"That works," Chloé says, relieved. 

"Remember, you must choose the right person for this mission," Master Fu says, sliding the miraculous into a smaller box that's exactly like the one Chloé found the Bee miraculous in the first time. She still has it, tucked away safely at home in the back of her dresser.

"Right." Chloé accepts the box and sits there for a moment, staring at it. Her automatic thought is to go to Sabrina, because invisibility was literally the power Sabrina had when she was akumatized. And if this were two years ago, she would've gone to Sabrina no problem - except it's not, and Sabrina is much closer to Lila now than she is to Chloé, and also she's not sure that Sabrina is suited to fighting an akuma. Facing down a creature that's essentially trying to kill you takes a certain backbone which Sabrina lacks.

So who then? It's not like Chloé has tons of friends to choose from. Marinette, Adrien and Nathaniel already have a miraculous. Their other classmates are way too far up Lila's ass to - oh.

"I think I know just the person. Thank you, Master," Chloé says, getting up. She slides the box back into her pouch and beckons to Pollen, leaving in a hurry.

The only reason Chloé knows where Juleka Couffaine lives is because Adrien sometimes practices with Kitty Section. He invited Chloé to go with him one time, even sending her Juleka's address, but Chloé had turned him down in favor of literally anything other than spending an afternoon listening to that noise. She scrolls quickly through her phone as she retraces her steps, wishing she could just transform; it would be a lot faster and easier to get where she wants to go if she could, but that would mean alerting the akuma to her plan and that's not feasible either.

Her lungs and ankles are burning with exertion by the time she makes it to the boat. Being that it's now approaching 5am, everything is quiet and no one is around. That doesn't stop Chloé. She makes her way up the ramp and onto the boat, looking around and wondering how best to get Juleka's attention.

"Can I help you?"

"Fuck!" Chloé jumps and spins around to see a boy sitting in the shadows. He smirks at her and lightly strums his guitar.

"Did you need something, or were you just intruding?" he asks innocently.

"I need to speak to Juleka," Chloé says, figuring there's no point in beating around the bush.

He cocks his head. "Why do you need my sister at 5am?"

"We're classmates. It's an emergency," Chloé says. At least now she knows this guy is Juleka's brother. She's heard Adrien mention him before. What's his name? 

"An emergency," he repeats, disbelieving.

"Yes! Now come on!" Chloé stomps her foot. "I need Juleka!"

He doesn't look convinced, but he does get up. "I'm Luka, by the way," he tosses over his shoulder as he disappears into the boat.

Luka. Right. Chloé jiggles from foot to foot with impatience as she waits. It seems to take forever before a very sleepy looking Juleka surfaces from the same door that Luka disappeared through. Like Chloé, she's still dressed in pajamas and her hair is a mess. Her eyes go very wide when she sees Chloé standing there and her mouth drops open. But Chloé doesn't have time for questions; she surges forward and grabs Juleka's arm.

"Ladybug needs you," she hisses into Juleka's startled face, dragging her towards the ramp. "Move your butt, my hive is in danger!"


	7. Chapter 7

About two blocks away from her home, Juleka finally snaps out of her shock and digs her heels in. “Chloé, stop! What is going on? What do you mean, Ladybug needs me?”

Chloé glances around and spots a conveniently dark alley. She drags Juleka into it before turning to face her and saying, “Exactly what I said. I don’t know if you’ve realized, but there’s an akuma attacking the city. Ladybug, Chat Noir and Filou are doing their best to fight it, but this akuma is tricky in that it can generate eyes wherever it wants. That means it can see everything. We need special help to sneak up on it.”

“Okaaaay,” Juleka says slowly. “I fail to see where I come into that?”

“This. This is where you come into it.” Chloé pulls the miraculous box out of her sweatshirt and holds it up. “Juleka Couffaine, this is the Tiger miraculous. It grants the power of invisibility. If you agree, you will use it to help us against this akuma. While we provide a distraction, you will sneak up on the akuma and disarm it as best you can. Will you accept?”

Juleka’s mouth falls open as Chloé speaks. Finally, she squeaks out, “What – you – why me?!”

“It’s a long story,” Chloé says with a sigh. “I don’t have time for this. Do you want to help or not?”

“Uh – I guess?” Juleka says, and it comes out like a question but Chloé decides to take it as a solid yes. She shakes the miraculous box at Juleka until Juleka takes it, lifting the top.

A fuchsia blob zips out of the box and around Juleka, who flinches and squeaks, before coming to a stop right in front of her. The blob slowly coalesces into a tiger kwami. It’s not nearly as cute as Pollen, but Chloé has to admit that, as far as kwami go, its not bad. The kwami looks at Juleka with orange eyes and grins, showing off a set of razor-sharp fangs.

“Hi! I’m Roaar,” he chirps. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m… Juleka…” Juleka says hesitantly.

“And I’m Chloé. Glad we’re all introduced. Now quickly, give her the cliffs notes and let’s get moving!” Chloé says impatiently.

Roaar swishes his tail and says, “Juleka, to transform you say ‘Roaar, let’s hunt’. Your special power will enable you to turn invisible, but you only get to do so for five minutes. Once that time is up, you’ll automatically transform back. To enable your special power, you say…” He flies closer to Juleka and whispers something in her ear that Chloé can’t hear.

“Okay, sounds simple enough…” Juleka reaches into the box and takes out the miraculous out. She slides the four rings on her fingers and then clasps the bracelet around her wrist.

“Go on,” Chloé says in what she hopes is an encouraging tone.

“Roaar, let’s hunt!” Juleka shouts. Roaar flashes into the miraculous, which lights up. Magenta lights rolls over Juleka. When it fades away, she’s dressed in a magenta body suit with black markings on her legs, arms and lower body. The belly of her suit is a lighter shade of magenta; her shoulders, fingers, and toes are all solid black. She’s got a sleek magenta tail – an actual tail, unlike Chat’s belt – with three black stripes on it, and two magenta tiger ears tipped in black sticking out of her hair.

The Tiger miraculous adorns her right hand, but her weapon is visible on her left hand. Chloé’s not sure of the appropriate name for it, but it fits snugly over Juleka’s hand. Three extremely strong and sharp silver claws extend out from her hand by about six inches. When Juleka turns her hand over, they both see that the claws seem to be a part of the costume. Juleka can’t remove them, but she also can’t lose them.

Most interesting by far are her eyes, which look exactly like Chat’s except they’re orange and not green. Chloé leans closer and peers into Juleka’s face, wondering if that’s a shared characteristic amongst the cat miraculouses. Kind of like how both the bug and the bee miraculous holders are susceptible to cold. If so, that’s unfair. She’d much rather have cool eyes than freeze all the time.

“Wow, cool,” Juleka breathes, staring at her hands. “Wait till Rose hears about this.”

“Nope. You have to keep this secret. Oh, and you also have to give it back. You can’t keep it,” Chloé tells her.

For a moment Juleka looks disappointed, but then she nods. “I guess that makes sense. Oh, it changed!” She holds her hand up. The Tiger miraculous looks brighter now, and the five pads on the piece over the back of Juleka’s glove are glowing fuchsia. Chloé points to them.

“Those pads will tell you how many minutes you have left once you use your power,” she says. “Pollen, buzz on!”

Juleka looks appropriately awed as Queen Bee appears before her, and Queen Bee takes a split second to preen before she snaps to attention. Unfortunately, they don’t have time to stand around. 

“What’s your name?” she demands.

“My… my name?” Juleka says.

“I can’t go around calling you Juleka. Secret identity, remember?”

“Um… Artemal,” Juleka says.

“Right. Okay. Artemal, here’s what you’re going to do. Use your power and turn yourself invisible. Make your way to the Eiffel Tower as fast you can, got it? The akuma is at the top,” Queen Bee tells her.

“How am I supposed to get up there?” Artemal asks, looking baffled.

“You’ll figure it out. You’re a tiger, so you’re probably super fast and can jump pretty high,” Queen Bee says. “Whatever you do, don’t let yourself be seen. Got it?”

Artemal looks very uncertain, but she nods. “Yeah, okay. I can do that. I think.”

“Good.” Queen Bee grabs her stinger and pulls the tip off to see her screen. She types off a very quick message to Chat, Ladybug and Filou.

“So…” Artemal says.

“So, go ahead,” Queen Bee says with an expectant look.

“Oh! Uh, right. Camouflage!” Artemal calls out, holding her claw up; in the next instant, she fades away before Queen Bee’s eyes.

“Artemal?” Queen Bee says.

“I’m here,” Artemal says.

“Let’s go. Follow my lead. Then split off and do what I told you to do,” Queen Bee instructs. She bends her legs and then jumps, clearing twenty feet easy. She lands on the roof and automatically looks around, but of course she can’t see Artemal and there’s no way of knowing if Artemal is on the rooftop too because they can’t risk talking to each other. All she can do is hope that Artemal is following instructions.

She curses quietly under her breath and starts running towards the tower. By rooftop, they’re less than a minute away. She’s almost there when the eyes start to appear around her, watching her from all angles, and holy shit that is just the creepiest feeling _ever_. Cold shivers run up her spine and she very nearly has a heart attack when Chat lands right beside her.

“Fun night,” Chat says breathlessly, matching her stride perfectly. 

“Not my definition of fun,” Queen Bee says. “Sorry I’m late.”

“No worries. Though if you’ve got any bright ideas…” He looks at her meaningfully.

“I’m working on it,” Queen Bee says. “What happens if you attack?”

By way of answer, Chat winds up his baton and hurtles it in the akuma’s direction. Immediately a blast of white lightening shoots down from the akuma, forcing the two of them to jump to opposite sides to avoid being hit. Queen Bee glances at the scorch mark on the roof and barely conceals another shiver as she starts running again. No wonder Chat, Ladybug and Filou aren’t getting anywhere.

They meet up with Ladybug and Filou at the base of the tower. Both of them are looking winded. And there are eyes all around them, watching their every move, so Queen Bee can’t even tell them that she’s got things under control. Or at least, she thinks she does. She fingers her stinger, watching the akuma out of the corner of her eye as the other three mumble to each other. If she’s keeping time correctly Artemal’s got about two and a half minutes left – 

The akuma screams.

Queen Bee smirks. “Oh my!” she exclaims dramatically as the akuma plummets off the top of the Eiffel Tower. It’s a fall that would kill a human six times over, but the akuma hits the ground and, after forming a crater, just harmlessly bounces a couple of times. 

“What the hell?” Filou says, looking stunned.

The akuma staggers up out of the crater, clutching at its side. Streams of white liquid flood out of three claw marks on its side. The eyes surrounding them flicker.

“Ladybug, now!” Chat hisses.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug shouts, throwing her yoyo up in the air. A red, black-spotted hairdryer falls into her hands. Ladybug’s eyes flit around the area… and then she smirks.

Approximately forty-five seconds later, Chat successfully Cataclysms the akuma’s object. A purple akuma flutters out. Ladybug catches it, purifies it, and sets the white butterfly free. It flutters away overhead, leaving behind a distraught young woman sobbing into her hands. Ladybug throws her Lucky Charm into the air and casts her cure as Chat walks over to gently help the young woman up.

And then, overhead, Mayura laughs.

“Fuck,” Ladybug says eloquently.

Queen Bee grabs her arm. “Filou and I got this. You and Chat go. Find Artemal. Get the Tiger miraculous back from her.”

“Find who?!” Ladybug’s eyes blow wide with shock and confusion, but Queen Bee doesn’t have time to stick around. If Juleka makes a run for it – and it’s not like Queen Bee would judge her, what with Mayura rearing her ugly head – then she can swing by Juleka’s place afterwards and get the miraculous back.

She lets go of Ladybug and instead grabs Filou, holding his arm tightly as she winds up with her stinger. It wraps around a distant point and hauls them both off the ground and into the air. Mayura is extremely easy to find, as she’s planted herself on one of the buildings that surrounds the Tower. She’s probably been watching and laughing this whole time, Queen Bee realizes.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the lamest members of the Miraculous Squad,” Mayura sneers. 

“Shut up and hand over your miraculous,” Queen Bee orders, well and truly out of patience. 

“Yeah right. As though I’m going to hand it over to you,” Mayura says with a scoff. She turns her fan, casually admiring the feathers. “If I can collect Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s miraculous, Hawkmoth will give me whatever I want.”

“You really believe that?” Filou says skeptically, holding his flute in hand.

Mayura gives them both a slow smirk. “Oh, believe me, Hawkmoth and I have brokered out a deal that he’s definitely going to keep.”

“He’s just using you!” Filou says. “The Peacock miraculous is _damaged_. It’s dangerous.”

“Oh, please,” Mayura says scornfully.

“Much as I hate to admit it, he’s telling the truth. He’s trying to help you right now,” Queen Bee says. “The Peacock is –” She’s about to say ‘going to kill you’, but apparently Mayura decides that the conversation is over.

“Enough!” Mayura yells, silencing them both. “You’re just trying to turn me against Hawkmoth. Well guess what, I have no interest in listening to your lies! I won’t give you the Peacock miraculous. It’s _mine_. And I’m going to use it to take every single one of your miraculouses!”

She pulls a feather from her fan and whispers something to it; it glows blue and gusts off on the wind. Queen Bee races after it, leaving Filou to continue to try and reason with Mayura. She even throws her stinger out. But the amok magically dodges her at every turn, finally floating through an open apartment window. There’s a scream of pure rage inside the apartment.

In the next instant, a gigantic doll literally grows up out of nowhere and starts tearing the apartment building to shreds. People start screaming and running. Queen Bee narrowly avoids being hit by a chunk of falling debris. No sooner does she land than Filou is there, dragging her out of the way of yet more debris and pulling her under a nearby awning. They huddle there, watching as the doll starts lumbering around.

“Mayura’s gone,” Filou says grimly. “She wouldn’t listen.”

“Figures,” Queen Bee mutters. “Do you ever feel like we don’t get paid enough for this shit?”

Filou sighs and readies his flute. “All the time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes about Artemal's name: when I looked up Viperion (Luka) on the Miraculous wiki, it says that his name most likely comes from a combination of "viper" and Hyperion, a Titan from Greek Mythology. I decided to continue that theme with Juleka. Her name is a combination of the word Artemis (Greek goddess) and Bengal, because, again, the Miraculous wiki says Roaar is most likely based off the Bengal tiger. I pronounce it ARE-TE-MAL (so, like the word Artemis but with an 'al' sound at the end).


	8. Chapter 8

It’s well after dawn, probably mid-morning, before Ladybug slides her index finger across her yoyo and releases the purified feather to the world. They all watch it float up and then drift away, caught by the breeze. Queen Bee glances around just to be sure, but of course there’s no sign of Mayura this time. She escaped after conjuring the amok. A flicker of frustration wells up inside of her and she clenches her fist.

“Well, that was horrible,” Chat says with false brightness. “Anyone else want to go sleep for a month?”

“Yes,” Filou and Ladybug say in perfect unison.

“Meet me at my place,” Queen Bee tells them. “I just have to do one little thing first.”

“What?” Ladybug demands, and then, like she’s suddenly remembering, adds, “Who is Artemal? What did you do? Chloé!”

Queen Bee pretends not to hear and throws out her stinger, letting it yank her out of earshot. She doesn’t go far since her miraculous is rapidly beeping down, landing in a nearby alley and leaning against the wall as her transformation comes apart. Chloé catches Pollen in her cupped hands, holding her kwami to her chest. They’re both exhausted. She really just wants to go home and rest.

But she has to get the Tiger miraculous back first. Not only did she promise Master Fu, but Ladybug will give her that ‘I’m disappointed in you’ look if Chloé doesn’t. And she is _so_ over those looks. 

“Stick with me, Pollen,” she says.

“I’m okay, My Queen,” Pollen says bravely.

Chloé’s phone beeps with an incoming text. She sags, briefly closing her eyes – she really doesn’t want to deal with anyone, but especially not her father right now – before yanking out her phone anyway. Her eyes widen when she gets a look at the screen: it’s not from her father, thank god, but from Juleka. The text has a location which is only about a block from where Chloé is right now.

She slides Pollen into her sweatshirt, pushes off the wall and unsteadily makes her way down to the address. It’s easy to spot Juleka, who is sitting at an outdoor table with the remains of breakfast in front of her. As Chloé nears, she catches a glimpse of Roaar, partially hidden by Juleka’s coat, sitting on Juleka’s lap. The tiger kwami is stuffing fistfuls of what looks like bacon into his mouth. 

“Hey,” Juleka says when Chloé gets to the table.

“Hi,” Chloé says wearily, sinking into the free chair. “I see you fed Roaar.”

“He was hungry after I transformed back, and I wasn’t sure what else to do,” Juleka says with a shrug. The tiger miraculous catches the light when she moves her hand. It’s certainly one of the more noticeable miraculouses, Chloé reflects, though in a way it also seems to fit Juleka. It doesn’t stand out on her the way it would on someone like, say, Marinette.

“No, that was good. Uh… thanks for your help,” Chloé says awkwardly. 

Juleka smiles. “Anytime. I had a lot of fun, actually.”

She pats Roaar’s head and then slides off her miraculous. Roaar disappears in a flash of magenta light. Juleka sighs wistfully and takes the box out of her pocket, setting the Tiger miraculous back inside. She looks at it for a few seconds, then reluctantly slides the box across the table towards Chloé. 

“How did you get my number?” Chloé asks, uncomfortable at how solemn things are. Is this how Ladybug felt every time she took back the Bee miraculous? Kind of guilty and unsure and sad all at once? Chloé doesn’t like it.

Frankly, she thinks it’s bullshit. The miraculouses aren’t helping anyone by staying locked up in that big box all the time. Hawkmoth would’ve been taken down _ages_ ago if every single one of those miraculous had been put to good use. There would be half a dozen miraculous holders to fight an akuma at any given time, and they would be able to chase down Mayura and take the Peacock away from her.

But no. For some reason, Master Fu is too afraid of that. Isn’t having the extra help and defeating Hawkmoth worth the potential of another miraculous falling into Hawkmoth’s hands?

“I texted Rose, and she texted Sabrina, who had your number,” Juleka says, drawing Chloé’s attention back to her. “I saw all the, err, trouble you were dealing with and figured you would be around eventually, but I didn’t want to go too far.” She shrugs. “I almost came back to help, but I didn’t want to throw myself into the middle of a plan without knowing what was going on.”

“No, you did good. I’m sure I – we – will call on you in the future. But I have to go.” Chloé pushes herself to her feet, pauses, then looks at the remains of Juleka’s breakfast. Naturally every scrap of bacon is gone, but there’s half a pancake left, covered with syrup. 

Juleka follows her gaze and frowns. “What?”

"Would you mind?" Chloé asks, somewhat awkwardly.

"Uh... go ahead?" Juleka pushes the plate across the table and Chloé sits. With a quick glance around, she sets Pollen down on the table. The confusion clears from Juleka's face as Pollen scarfs down the pancake like she hasn't eaten in months.

"She needed to be fed before I can transform again," Chloé explains, figuring that Juleka is owed some kind of explanation. She could've ordered something, but frankly she's not even sure if she has any money on her. Normally she never leaves the hotel without her purse, but normally she also doesn't get woken up at 5am for an akuma attack.

"Ah, I see." Juleka still looks curious, probably wondering why Chloé needs to transform again, but those are details Chloé doesn't offer. Marinette and Adrien barely mentioned the guardian before they took Chloé to meet him; she's not even sure if Nathaniel even knows there is a guardian at this point. That kind of information is best left under wraps as much as possible.

When Pollen is done, and hiding back under Chloé's sweatshirt, Chloé gets up and bids Juleka good-bye. Then she walks down the street and ducks into yet another alley. If she could, she wouldn't bother taking the Tiger miraculous back to Master Fu. And she'd insist on Nathaniel being able to keep the Fox miraculous, too. _And_ she'd even go so far as to help Ladybug find other people who can be trusted with a miraculous. It would certainly make all their lives either. But she also knows that so long as Master Fu is against it, Marinette won't even think about it.

"Ready, Pollen?" Chloé says. "As soon as we take the Tiger back, we're done."

"Thank goodness," Pollen says. "I'm ready for a long soak in the bath tub."

"You and me both. Pollen, buzz on!" Chloé calls out. Pollen zips into her miraculous and a flash of yellow light illuminates the alley. With a heavy sigh, Queen Bee leaps into the air.

She makes her way back to Master Fu's and drops down to the ground, detransforming. This time she doesn't bother with knocking, instead pushing the door open and stepping into the shop. Master Fu is speaking to a customer; Chloé crosses her arms over her chest and skulks in a corner until the customer gets the hint and stops chatting and leaves. As the door shuts behind them, Master Fu turns to Chloé with a smile.

"You were successful. Good job, Chloé," he says.

It's a little nice to hear the compliment, but not that nice. Chloé narrows her eyes at him. "Why can't more people keep their miraculous?"

Master Fu looks surprised. "What?"

"You heard me. The whole reason Marinette wanted me to keep mine is because she and Chat had to keep leaving battles to come retrieve it, and that put whoever was left behind at risk by dealing with the akuma alone. But also, because the two of them working alone wasn't enough and it was making them exhausted." Chloé draws herself up, pasting on her best superior expression. "So long as we have people we can trust, why can't they keep their miraculous? Why can't they help?"

"Impertinent girl!" Wayzz says, bursting out of Master Fu's shirt. "You speak of things you don't understand."

Chloé opens her mouth, but she doesn't get the chance to respond. Pollen is there immediately, right up in Wayzz's face, snapping, "Don't talk about Chloé like that! You have no idea what it's been like for them, Wayzz!"

"I know enough to know that she's way overstepping her bounds!"

"That's just your opinion! Chloé's job is to look after the hive and she's doing that job by being here asking these questions!"

"Alright," Master Fu interjects very loudly. "Chloé, listen to me. I understand where you're coming from -"

"Do you?" Chloé says rudely. "Or do you just sit back here in the comfort of your shop and pretend that you do?"

Master Fu starts to speak, then pauses. He gives her a hard, searching look. Chloé meets him stare for stare, refusing to back down.

Finally, he says, "Having never an adversary exactly like Hawkmoth, I suppose I can't say I understand completely. If I could help you fight, I would. Unfortunately, these old bones don't allow me to do that. I have to rely on others like yourself." He holds up a hand to forestall when she starts to speak. "Having said that, there are things about this situation that you don't understand. As the Bee, it is your responsibility to look after the hive. As the guardian, it is _my_ responsibility to look after the miraculous. I have to make the decision that I think is best based on the information that I have."

"And what information is that?" Chloé demands.

"That the risk of having another miraculous fall into the wrong hands is too high right now," Master Fu says steadily. "If you're asking me to understand your position, you must understand mine in return. Not three months ago, Rena Rouge was the Fox miraculous holder. Ladybug trusted her. Now, Rena Rouge can't be trusted and Filou is the new Fox. Can you imagine how difficult it would've been trying to get the Fox miraculous back from Rena Rouge had she been allowed to keep it full time?"

Chloé pauses at that. Much as she hates to admit it, he has a point. Alya got akumatized after she saw Filou for the first time; Chloé really doesn't want to know what it would be like fighting an akumatized Rena Rouge, because she imagines that it's not pleasant. On the one hand, that means Chloé has proven that she can be trusted if Master Fu has allowed her to keep the Bee miraculous all the time. On the other hand, that means giving Artemal or even Filou their miraculous to keep permanently isn't going to happen until they've proven they can be trusted too - however that might happen.

Her conflicting emotions must show on her face, because Master Fu sighs. "A situation like this is difficult," he says kindly. "There is no completely right answer. I'm grateful for your presence, because you help to carry a very heavy load for Ladybug and Chat Noir. But at this time, letting someone else keep a miraculous is just not feasible." He holds his hand out.

She resists for a couple seconds before begrudgingly cracking and fishing the Tiger miraculous out of her pocket. Still, she hesitates before handing it over. "What if Adrien, Marinette and I were allowed to keep another miraculous on hand?" she says slowly. "Not to use, but so that if we needed them in battle they would be there."

Master Fu frowns. "You can't always know which miraculous is going to be helpful to you," he points out.

"I know. But Nathaniel is always going to be Filou, and the Tiger makes sense for the person I chose," Chloé says, thinking it over. "And I'm sure Adrien could pick someone out too. Doesn't it make sense for all three of us to have someone we can each fall back on without having to depend on the others to be there, or having to run here and leave an akuma alone to rampage through the city?" She looks at Fu challengingly, clutching the Tiger miraculous to her chest. "Plus, it means that you don't need to worry about trust. If you can trust me with one miraculous, why can't you trust me with two?"

“That’s an excellent compromise!” Pollen exclaims, beaming with approval.

“Preposterous,” Wayzz says at the same time. “The miraculous are safest here with the guardian! What if you lost it?!”

“Excuse you, Hawkmoth can pry them from my cold, dead hands,” Chloé shoots back, putting her hands on her hips. Then she looks back at Master Fu. “Well? What do you think?”


	9. Chapter 9

It feels strange to walk back into the hotel after how quickly she ran out this morning. Chloé avoids the employees as she slinks towards the elevator, aching with weariness from head to toe. Out of the corner of her eye, she catches a glimpse of Butler Jean moving towards her. Luckily, the elevator doors open and she dashes inside and hits the button to close the door before he can make it to her. Jean can be nice, and he's put up with her shit for way longer than most people, but she really doesn't feel like facing an interrogation right now. 

The elevator takes her up to the penthouse floor. She walks out and heads over to her bedroom, hearing the voices within long before she actually gets there. When she opens the door, she immediately sees that Marinette, Nathaniel and Adrien have made themselves comfortable on her bed - which is no longer the mess it was when Chloé dashed out of here earlier, so that means housekeeping has been by. Plagg, Tikki and Trixx are all sitting on her pillow, and Chloé narrows her eyes.

"You better not be getting cheese crumbs on my pillow," Chloé says, kicking the door shut. Pollen leaps from her sweatshirt and darts across the room towards the other kwamis.

"Chloé!" Marinette sits up. "Who the heck is Artemal?!"

"Has that seriously been killing you since I mentioned her?" Chloé says, amused. Who is she kidding? Of course it has. So far as Chloé knows, up until Juleka, Chloé is the only person who got a miraculous that wasn't personally chosen by Ladybug. And the only reason that happened is because Ladybug dropped the Bee miraculous before she could give to Alya - luckily for Ladybug. Chloé can't imagine where they would be now if it weren't for Queen Bee!

Marinette crosses her arms and frowns. "Tell me right now."

"Untwist your panties and relax," Chloé says, stripping her sweaty sweatshirt off. "Artemal is the Tiger miraculous holder."

"The Tiger miraculous?" Marinette repeats, eyes wide.

"Who was it?" Adrien asks, looking curious.

Chloé mock-gasps. "Oh, I can't say! Adrikins, don't you know how important secrets identities are?"

Nathaniel and Adrien both grin, but Marinette scowls and says, "Chloé." in that stern tone that means she's losing patience.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh. It was Juleka."

"As in our classmate Juleka?" Nathaniel says, looking intrigued. "Interesting choice."

"It seemed to make sense," Chloé says shortly, not wanting to go into what led her to Juleka. Not right now anyway. "You said that I should come with help and you already had Filou with you. I took that to mean I should visit Master Fu for more help, so I did. He suggested that I take the Tiger miraculous because of its ability to turn its holder invisible. Seemed ideal." She shrugs.

"That's not quite what I meant, but I'm glad you interpreted it that way. We were in serious trouble," Adrien says.

"You got it back from her, right?" Marinette says.

"Yes, Mom. I did. It's right here." Chloé takes the box out of her pocket and grins smugly, waving it around. She'll never forget the look on Wayzz's stupid little face when Master Fu _agreed_ with Chloé about the Tiger and Fox miraculouses. He was definitely not happy, and she's pretty sure Wayzz is still arguing with Master Fu about it even now. Not that it matters. Chloé's not bringing the Tiger miraculous back anytime soon.

"Why didn't you take it back?" Adrien asks.

"I did, but I convinced Master Fu to let me keep it. And Marinette, you get to keep the Fox miraculous," Chloé says proudly. "That way, if we need help, we don't have to go to Master Fu first. Most of the time, Filou and Artemal should be more than enough to cover us. We'll only have to go there for something special."

Marinette looks struck dumb by shock.

"What about Adrien?" Nathaniel asks curiously. "Doesn't he get to keep a spare?"

"Uh, I'm okay with -" Adrien starts.

"Of course he does," Chloé says, deliberately cutting Adrien off. "Once he figures out who he wants to choose as back-up and what miraculous they're best suited for, he can go talk to Master Fu and retrieve it."

"And Master Fu agreed to this?" Marinette says faintly.

Chloé gives her a sharp smile. "He listened to my proposal and agreed that what I was saying was sound. Unlike you, I'm not afraid to speak my mind to him."

"He's the guardian. He usually knows best," Marinette says, a little more sharply.

"Yeah, usually. But he's not the one sticking his neck out, is he?" Chloé retorts, tossing Marinette the empty box for the Fox miraculous. Marinette catches it easily.

"Well, I for one think that's a great plan," Nathaniel says, shrugging. "I can stick closer to you during akuma battles, Marinette. And Juleka knows who Chloé is, so she can do the same thing."

Marinette is still frowning fiercely, like she’s building up a stream of arguments in her head. Chloé leaves them to it, knowing Adrien and Tikki can calm Marinette down way better than she can, and heads into the bathroom, where she takes a very long, very luxurious shower. She washes her hair twice and her body three times, until she finally stops feeling sweaty and gross. Only then does she climb out and gently towel her hair, then wrap a towel around her body. 

She opens the bathroom door and lets a cloud of steam rush out, surprised to see that Adrien is still sitting on her bed. Marinette and Nathaniel, along with their kwamis, are gone; the box containing the Tiger miraculous is open, and Plagg and Pollen are having a fierce, though quiet, conversation with Roaar. Adrien is looking at her, already knowing what Chloé’s about to ask.

"Marinette and Nathaniel went home. Their parents were wondering where they were," he says. He doesn't have that problem, given that he's supposed to be in school. No one will have called out for him, of course. But Chloé knows that Madame Bustier will just assume it's an oversight on Nathalie's part. So long as Adrien has a reasonable explanation tomorrow, no one will think twice about it.

"Was she still freaking out?" Chloé asks, walking over to her dresser to grab her brush.

"She wasn't freaking out," Adrien says patiently. "Marinette has a lot more respect for Master Fu than you do. That's not a bad thing."

"Respect should be earned," Chloé points out, turning to face him. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. He's not the one sticking his neck out in battle all the time. If you and Marinette need something, he should be willing to listen to you. What does he think is going to happen to Paris if the two of you burn out? Isn't he concerned about that happening at all?! Doesn't he realize that Hawkmoth has amped things up lately and you two need more support?!" Her voice rises until suddenly she realizes she's yelling, and Adrien is giving her a fond look.

"What was it Tikki said? Turtles and bees don't see things the same way? I understand now what she meant by that. Unfortunately, Marinette and I aren’t his primary concern." Adrien pats the spot in front of him. "He's just trying to do what he thinks is right. His priority is protecting the miraculous."

"There won't be anyone left to protect them if he doesn't start making smarter choices," Chloé mutters, stalking over. She sits in front of him and hands him her brush.

Adrien starts to brush her hair slowly. “Thanks, Chlo.”

“What for?”

“For sticking up for us all of us. Marinette doesn’t really like to challenge Master Fu. Neither do I. I’m not sure either of us would’ve thought of asking for a spare miraculous to carry around, and, even if we had, he probably wouldn’t have agreed. Not without your, umm, _fiery_ way of asking.”

“Is that your way of asking if I was polite?” Chloé asks.

“I already know the answer to that,” Adrien says, and he sounds amused now.

“I wasn’t mean,” Chloé says defensively. “Pollen, was I mean?”

“Absolutely not,” Pollen says, turning around immediately. “You said exactly what needed to be said in a way that made the guardian listen.”

“She’s probably not just saying that,” Plagg offers. “The Turtle can have a pretty hard head to go along with their hard shells. Ironically, because they have the tendency to squabble with the Bee so much, they can be more open to what a Bee says as opposed to another member of the group.”

“See?” Chloé says.

Adrien laughs out loud. “I wasn’t saying it was a bad thing. Seriously, thank you. I’m glad you were able to make him see reason. It’s going to make things a lot easier on us. Now we don’t have to worry about going to Master Fu’s during every fight. If we need help, we can just find the right person.”

“We’ll only have to go to the guardian’s if we need a specific miraculous,” Chloé says, nodding. Then she hisses as the brush hits a tangle.

“Sorry,” Adrien says, gentling his strokes as he works on the tangle. “Between Juleka and Nathaniel, we should be covered for the most part. It’s kind of weird to think there’s a new member who doesn’t know who we all are.”

“Well, once we all get comfortable with her, you all can make those decisions,” Chloé says. Frankly, having everyone already know who she is has some benefits… but then, Chloé has a lot less to lose than anyone else. She really only has her father to worry about, and Mayor Bourgeois is usually riding such a high from power that he’s not really at risk for being akumatized. The only time that usually changes is when Audrey Bourgeois is in town, which thankfully won’t happen for a while.

That’s not to say she wouldn’t care if her classmates or Sabrina got akumatized, but it wouldn’t be the first time and it probably won’t be the last time. Marinette, Adrien, Nathaniel and even Juleka, on the other hand, all have families with parents who aren’t drunk on power (with the possible exception of Gabriel Agreste). Hawkmoth would take ruthless advantage of that.

Adrien makes a humming sound and is quiet for a moment, then says, “I have no idea who to pick or what miraculous they should use. My instinct would be to choose Nino, but…”

“You’ll never get the Turtle away from Master Fu long-term,” Chloé says. See? She can be delicate when the situation calls for it! The real reason is that Nino and Alya both know each other’s identities. And Nino won’t be Carapace if it means there’s a chance Alya will be akumatized again – even though she’s the one who put herself into this situation. He’s too nice for that.

“Right,” Adrien says, sighing. “There’s that. Then I thought of Kagami –”

“Uh, no,” Chloé says. “She has even less time away from her mother than you do.” She never thought there could be a parent more controlling than Gabriel Agreste, but Tome Tsurugi takes the cake.

“Exactly. And then I thought maybe Luka…”

“Juleka’s brother?” Chloé thinks back to the boy standing on the houseboat. 

“Yeah, but I really don’t know him that well. I’ve only played with Kitty Section a few times. Marinette knows him better than I do. I…” Adrien leans his forehead against her shoulder and huffs a laugh. “I really want this person to be _my_ choice. Marinette’s chosen everyone else.”

“Except me,” Chloé points out. “And Juleka. But I get what you mean. You’ll find someone, Adrien. Maybe you should start looking at the people you spend the most time with, like the rest of our classmates. There could be someone you’ve overlooked.” She has a couple people in mind who could work, but she’s not going to sway Adrien one way or the other. Not right not anyway. Not unless he chooses someone who won’t really work for their team.

“I guess,” Adrien says, but he sounds more thoughtful now instead of hopeless, which is a step in the right direction.

“Find the person first. Then decide on the miraculous that suits them,” Chloé tells him. 

“When did you get so wise?” he asks.

Chloé smirks, reaches down to pat his hand, and says, “I’ve always been wise. You just weren’t paying attention.”


	10. Chapter 10

Lila’s not at school the next morning, which doesn’t surprise Chloé at all. She would bet a lot of money that Lila’s newest scheme, now that she can’t spread more rumors about Marinette, is to make herself seem like she’s deadly ill to milk all the attention she gets. And it seems to be working, because during the class break, Rose walks up to them with Juleka hot on her heels; Rose looks upset, whereas Juleka looks kind of bored.

“Oh Adrien, are you busy after school?” Rose asks, wringing her hands together.

Adrien does a good job of hiding his surprise, giving her a polite smile. “Uh… I think I have a fencing lesson. Why?”

“Lila is really sick. A bunch of us were going to go over to her place after school to visit her,” says Rose. “We thought she’d appreciate seeing you too.”

“I’m sorry, Rose. I can’t,” Adrien says, managing to look contrite, even though Chloé knows he’d rather throw himself off the top of the school untransformed than willingly spend time with Lila. He’s good at acting, she’ll give him that much.

“Chloé and I can go,” Nathaniel says suddenly.

“What?!” Chloé hisses. 

“Really,” Marinette says, looking way too amused. Juleka raises both of her eyebrows almost to her hairline, while Adrien is biting his lip to hold back laughter.

“That would be great!” Rose exclaims, clapping her hands. “Okay, we’re going to meet up right outside after school and walk over together. See you then!” She carefully doesn’t glance in Marinette’s direction as she turns away to accost Alix and Kim. Which is probably for the best, really, as the whole class knows that things are very tense between Lila and Marinette, even if most of them are oblivious as to why.

“Speak fast, Tails, or you’re find out what my stinger feels like,” Chloé says venomously.

Nathaniel holds up his hands. “Whoa there. I was just thinking that maybe can find something on Lila if we’re at her house, that’s all. Especially if they’re planning on surprising her, and knowing Rose that’s probably the case. Lila won’t have had time to hide any incriminating evidence.”

“That’s actually a really good plan,” Marinette says with a smile.

“Oh, you’re just saying that because you don’t have to go,” Chloé huffs.

“That too,” Marinette says shamelessly. “I’m so glad Rose didn’t ask me. I would’ve just said I was busy, but I hate lying.”

“You wouldn’t be lying. You have plans to come watch me fence,” Adrien says, draping an arm around Marinette’s shoulders.

“I do, do I?” Marinette says with a flirty smile.

Chloé rolls her eyes and tunes them both out, turning back to Nathaniel. “Fine. But I’m telling you right now, I am not going to be held responsible for what I do to that girl if she can’t keep her mouth shut.”

“Noted,” Nathaniel says.

For the first time ever, the end of the day comes way too fast. Chloé dawdles until Nathaniel grabs her arm and drags her out of her chair, pulling her outside. Rose, Juleka, Sabrina, Mylène, and Ivan are all standing there. Ivan looks incredibly awkward until he spots Nathaniel, at which point he gets a relieved look on his face. No doubt his presence is Mylène’s doing.

“Hi Chloé,” Sabrina says tentatively.

“Hello,” Chloé says, maybe a little more shortly than is necessary. Marinette’s not the only person to have lost people to Lila’s lies. She and Sabrina will probably never be friends again. Chloé doesn’t take betrayal lightly.

Sabrina’s face crumbles, but really what did she expect? They haven’t spoken in weeks and Sabrina trails around behind Lila like a lost puppy. Sort of the way she used to follow Chloé. Chloé frowns back and crosses her arms over her chest, perfectly willing to let the awkward moment drag on. 

“Okay, let’s go!” Rose says, clapping her hands. She, Mylène, and Sabrina, probably the only three of the group who are actually enthusiastic about this venture, take the lead. Ivan and Nathaniel fall in behind them, with Chloé and Juleka bringing up the rear.

“Is there a reason you got roped into this?” Juleka asks softly.

“No,” Chloé lies. 

Juleka looks at her sideways. “I think that’s the most unconvincing lie I’ve ever heard out of your mouth.”

Chloé just shrugs. She hopes that Juleka doesn’t think that they’re friends now. She’s already got enough people within the hive to be concerned about. It didn’t occur to her before that by handing out new miraculous, that technically means the hive is expanding. She makes a face at the thought. If that’s the case, she hopes Adrien takes his sweet-ass time choosing his second.

“I just want to know if I should be concerned about danger,” Juleka whispers. “If Rose is in danger.”

“She’s got her nose up Lila’s butt, so Rose should be fine,” Chloé says honestly. Lila wouldn’t say or do anything against someone who so openly sucks up every word she says. 

“Okay.” Juleka seems satisfied with that response. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“Whatever,” Chloé says, shrugging again. 

They walk in silence the rest of the way, which suits Chloé just fine. Lila lives about fifteen minutes away from Collège Françoise Dupont. Chloé memorizes the location of her house, just in case, and stands at the bottom of the stairs as Rose knocks on the door. She’s half-hoping no one will answer, and they can just leave, but after a moment or two the door opens to reveal an older woman that is unquestionably Lila’s mother.

“Yes?” Madame Rossi says, looking confused when she sees them all standing there.

“Hi! We’re Lila’s friends from school. We thought we’d come visit with her,” Rose explains.

Madame Rossi instantly smiles. “Oh, how nice. Lila could use a pick me up. Come right in.”

Nathaniel hooks his arm through Chloé’s and literally drags her up the steps, much to Juleka’s obvious amusement and Ivan’s confusion. The Rossi household is very nice, all things considered, but it’s nothing like the palace that Lila has gone on and on about. Chloé wonders if any of her classmates even remembers that, or if Lila’s lies have all blurred together by this point.

Lila’s bedroom is on the second floor. Madame Rossi points them towards it and tells them that she’s going to get some refreshments, then disappears back downstairs. Mylène, in a rare moment of bravery, is the one to put her hand on the doorknob to Lila’s room and push the door open. Chloé is completely expecting to see Lila in a state of perfect health, so what she actually sees stops her in her tracks.

The room is dark but for some light seeping around the curtains, illuminating the girl lying on the bed. Lila stirs and sits up when the door swings open; her face is pale, lacking its usual olive tones, and sweaty. Her eyes are glazed and unfocused, and she looks at the group like she’s not even sure who they are for at least fifteen seconds before recognition finally dawns.

“Rose? Sabrina? What are you –” A deep, wracking cough overtakes Lila before she can finish her sentence. She doubles over, coughing into her hands with such force that her whole body shakes from the force of it.

“That’s not faked,” Nathaniel breathes, practically draping himself over Chloé’s back. She’s half-tempted to elbow him off, but Juleka is plastered to her right side and, since they’re all standing in the doorway, she can’t get an elbow free to shove either one of them away.

“Is that why you came?” Juleka asks, equally soft and curious.

“Of course not,” Chloé lies.

“Oh Lila, you poor thing!” Rose exclaims, scurrying over to the bed. She gently pats at Lila’s back. Sabrina and Mylène immediately join her, with Sabrina grabbing the cup of water on the bedside table and holding it for Lila to take a few sips from. Ivan steps back from the bed, looking _incredibly_ uncomfortable as he tries not to stare at Lila in her pajamas. It’s obvious he regrets coming.

“Thanks,” Lila says finally, her voice hoarse. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We heard you were sick and came over to see how you were doing,” Mylène tells her. “Everyone in class is worried about you!”

“Really,” Lila says, her eyes wandering over to the group clustered by the door. A faint sneer crosses her face when she meets Chloé’s gaze, but it quickly fades away when she coughs again. Just once or twice this time, but she grabs the cup from Sabrina and quickly drinks some more.

“Do the doctors know what’s wrong?” Sabrina asks.

Lila shakes her head. “No… not yet.”

“What exactly is wrong?” Chloé speaks up, curious in spite of herself.

For a moment Lila’s eyes narrow, clearly wondering why Chloé wants to know, but Lila’s never passed up a chance to talk about herself for attention. She says, “It’s really hard for me to catch my breath. Sometimes it feels like there’s a heavy weight pressing onto my lungs. I cough and cough but…” She flutters her hand near her chest. “It seems to take longer and longer for me to be able to breathe. And my heart just _races_ when I cough; it’s the most _awful_ feeling.”

“That’s awful,” Mylène gasps.

“I know,” Lila says. “And I’m so weak I can barely stand. I fainted in the shower this morning. Mama and Papa had to carry me back to bed. They think it’s because of my fever.”

“You do feel warm,” Rose says immediately, seizing Lila’s hand and holding it.

“Plus I’m tired all the time,” Lila continues, nodding at Rose. “I can barely keep my eyes open. I just want to sleep and never wake up.” She sighs dramatically.

“So you’ve got a cold,” Chloé says. Nathaniel pinches her.

“This sounds like more than just a cold to me,” says Mylène, her face screwed up in thought. “Maybe you have pneumonia or an infection in your lungs.”

“They’ve checked for all that, but none of the tests have come back positive so far,” Lila tells them. It’s obvious she’s enjoying the attention. “They sent me home with some medication and told my mother I should stay in bed as much as possible to rest until they can figure out what’s wrong. It could be _deadly_.”

Chloé is a little skeptical at that, even as Rose, Sabrina, Mylène and even Ivan gasp appropriately. She has to bite her tongue to stop herself from asking why the doctors wouldn’t keep Lila in the hospital overnight if she were really _that_ sick. Wouldn’t they want her somewhere they could keep an eye on her? If they sent her home, it can’t be that bad…

“Are you contagious?” Juleka asks, sounding a little apprehensive, and they all freeze. 

“Um… no, I don’t think so,” Lila says quickly. Too quickly. “This has been creeping up on me for a while, you know… probably for about a week and a half now? It started randomly… I was just really tired… and then the coughing… It’s all got a lot worse two nights ago, seems like.” She sighs heavily. “Yesterday was _awful_. It seemed to come out of no where, that’s what my mama says. If I were contagious, everyone else in class would be sick already, right?”

“I guess…” Juleka says uncertainly. If she gets any closer to Chloé, they’re going to have to peel themselves away from each other. 

“Well, feel better!” Chloé says with forced brightness, kicking Nathaniel’s shin until he gets the hint and backs up. Chloé goes with, unsurprised when Juleka follows on her heels, and the three of them traipse back down the stairs, past Madame Rossi, and back outside.

“That was rude,” Nathaniel comments.

“Shut up, I don’t see you jumping to stay,” Chloé retorts, letting the door go. A big hand catches it and Ivan follows them out, looking guilty.

“I didn’t want to stay either,” he admits when they all look at them. “Mylène is Lila’s friend, not me.”

“You have better taste than I thought,” Chloé says shamelessly.

“Chloé,” Nathaniel and Juleka say together, then look at each other in surprise.

“Whatever. Those three can stay and fawn over Lila as much as they want. I’m not sticking around just in case she is contagious,” Chloé says, her skin prickling at the thought. 

“Yeah, I think I might go home and shower,” Juleka admits.

“Wanna walk back?” Nathaniel says to Ivan, and Ivan nods.

“I’m gonna call my daddy for a lift,” Chloé says, shooting Nathaniel a meaningful look. He gives her a subtle nod. The four of them part ways. Chloé waits to be sure that the other three are out of sight before she transforms and takes to the rooftops to head home.


	11. Chapter 11

“So, she’s really sick,” Adrien says, sounding thoughtful.

Chloé leans back and stretches, staring at her laptop screen. Nathaniel, Marinette and Adrien all look back at her. Marinette is in her bedroom, laying on her bed on her stomach with her laptop in front of her. Nathaniel’s sitting at his desk with his computer. Adrien is sitting at his desk too. Chloé is sitting on her bed, reclining against some pillows. They’re all in their pajamas, because it’s late, but at least they’re at home instead of out on some freezing rooftop.

“Well, unless she’s a _much_ better actress than we’ve all given her credit for,” Chloé says. “I don’t think anyone could fake coughing like that, honestly. It really sounded like she couldn’t breathe.”

“Much as I really hate to admit it, it did sound painful,” says Nathaniel.

“Color me surprised,” Marinette says. “I honestly expected her to be faking it for extra attention now that her rumor about me being Mayura has been thoroughly debunked.”

“You and me both,” Chloé replies, shrugging. 

“I guess it’s not a bad thing. At least it means she won’t be around to make up more rumors about Marinette,” says Adrien. It would be unlike him to be glad that someone else is sick, except for the fact that he’s fiercely protective over his partner and he hit his limit for Lila’s shenanigans a long time ago.

“Yeah, I’d say she won’t be back to school for a while,” says Nathaniel. “At least a week, maybe more. She said it came on really suddenly about a week and a half ago, but it seems like it’s only in the last couple days that she got really bad.”

“It got worse two days ago?” Marinette says. It sounds like an innocuous question, but there’s something about her voice that makes them all look at her. 

“What are you thinking, Bugaboo?” Adrien asks.

Marinette hesitates, biting her lip. “This is probably crazy… but what if Lila was Mayura?”

No one says anything for a long time. Chloé thinks they’re all too dumbstruck by the idea to respond. Marinette's eyes track across her screen like she's looking at all of them, and then she licks her lips - but she doesn't say anything, waiting them out. Nathaniel looks thoroughly flummoxed; Adrien's mouth opens and closes without anything coming out. For her part, Chloé isn't sure whether idea pisses her off or horrifies her. The idea of Lila Ross with a miraculous is terrifying.

"That makes a lot of sense!" Suddenly a black kwami head pops into Adrien's screen. "Pigtails, I think you're on to something."

"Shit," Nathaniel says at last. "Plagg's right. That _does_ make a lot of sense."

Adrien sweeps Plagg away from his webcam, revealing green eyes that are wide and worried. "You really think so? I mean... Lila?"

Marinette shrugs. "I just thought... The timing of her illness works out. And Lila has been akumatized three times now. She's very comfortable in working with Hawkmoth. Maybe she stole it from him... though it seems way more likely that he gave it to her, based on what she said about the two of them having a deal. But I can't think of anyone else who would be happier to fight against Ladybug, can you?"

Chloé can't, and the realization pisses her off. "So, you're telling me that this whole time, Mayura has been sitting four rows away from me?!"

"Well, maybe. We don't know for sure," Nathaniel points out. "It could just be a coincidence."

It's Adrien who voices the obvious. "How can we find out?"

"Maybe one of us could go talk to her," Marinette says slowly. 

"You mean like Ladybug?" Chloé says skeptically.

"Uh, yeah, that won't go over well," Nathaniel puts in. "I don't think it should be any of us when we're transformed. If Lila is Mayura, that will put her on guard right away. If she's not, it's going to make her suspicious."

"Well, I can't do it. Lila hates me," says Marinette.

"I could, if I have to," Adrien says reluctantly. "But she's so anxious to impress me, I'm not sure she'd tell me the truth."

Nathaniel clears his throat. "I think it should be Chloé."

"What the hell did I do to you?!" Chloé exclaims, throwing her hands up.

"Nothing!" Nathaniel says, looking like he's trying not to laugh. "But Adrien and Marinette are both right. I could go, but I've barely talked to Lila before. She wouldn't tell me anything."

"I've barely talked to her either. In fact, last time I spoke to her, I threatened her," says Chloé.

"When was that?!" Marinette demands.

"Yeah, but you're Queen Bee. Knowing who you are will throw her off-balance," Nathaniel says at the same time. "It might get Lila to be more honest than she would be otherwise. She knows what you're capable of."

"He kind of has a point," Adrien says.

Marinette nods. "I have to agree."

"But I don't want to," Chloé whines. "I hate Lila!"

"Chloé," Adrien says, turning serious, "if Marinette is right, then that means Lila has transformed into Mayura _at least_ two times. Probably more, if she practiced at all with her powers before she tried to attack Marinette in the school yard. It sounds like she's deteriorating fast. If she transforms again, you heard what our kwamis said. That could be enough to kill her."

The sobering reality of the situation is enough to make them all go quiet. Chloé's heart sinks. She doesn't like Lila. In fact, she would even go so far as to say she hates Lila - but that doesn't mean she wants to see Lila die either. Especially if Lila doesn't know what she's doing, and that seems very likely judging by Mayura's response when Queen Bee and Filou tried to tell her about the Peacock miraculous. Hawkmoth probably lied to her, Chloé thinks, or just plain didn't mention it. And Lila would have no reason to think that using a miraculous is dangerous...

"Alright, fine," Chloé says finally. "I'll go talk to her tomorrow morning."

"Maybe you should go now," Marinette says.

"Chill out, Marinette. It's after midnight. You really think her mom is gonna let me in the house?" Chloé says, raising an eyebrow.

Marinette concedes the point with a sigh and a reluctant nod. "Okay, fine. First thing tomorrow morning."

"First thing," Chloé says with a grimace. Sounds like a great way to ruin a morning, but she knows she doesn't have a choice here. The only other logical choices are either Adrien or Nathaniel. She can't send Adrien into the lion's den, and Nathaniel's too new to this whole miraculous thing for her to feel right about letting him do it either. And of course, there's no way Lila would tell Marinette anything.

"Text us afterwards," Adrien says.

"Yeah, sure. Good night." She hits the button to end the connection without waiting for them to respond, dropping her laptop on the bed with a frustrated grunt.

"Are you okay, My Queen?" Pollen inquires, hovering over Chloé's face with a concerned expression.

"I've been better. I hate the thought of going to talk to her. Being around Lila just really makes me want to punch her in the face." Chloé clenches her fist and holds it up for demonstration.

Pollen gives a small smile. "That's pretty normal. You see Lila as an enemy to the hive. It's natural for you to feel that way."

"Sure I don't just want to punch her?" Chloé says, only half joking. It's true that being around Lila makes her feel anxious and irritable, but she didn't necessarily attribute that to the hive. Then again, maybe Pollen is right. These days, nothing sets Chloé off faster than a threat, implied or otherwise, to the rest of the team.

She heaves a heavy sigh and grabs her laptop, setting it on her nightstand, then squirms down beneath her covers. How could Lila be Mayura? How could none of them have noticed? _Is_ she really Mayura, or are they all just grasping at straws? If she is Mayura, how did they all miss it? At some point, Pollen comes down to lay on the pillow beside her cheek, buzzing just loud enough for it to be audible. The sound is comforting, and, in spite of Chloé's spinning thoughts, lulls her into sleep.

The sun in her face wakes her up the next morning; Chloé crawls out of bed, showers, and gets dressed in a white sundress, yellow cropped jacket, and black boots. She affixes the Bee miraculous in her hair, looking at it for a moment. It’s become a familiar sight, to the point where her ponytail looks weird without the comb. Where does Lila keep the Peacock?

“Okay, Pollen, let’s get this over with,” Chloé says finally, grabbing a black purse. She heads out the door and down to the first floor, where she heads outside.

Chloé retraces the path she and her classmates took yesterday, finding her way back to Lila’s house. This time she climbs the steps alone, wishing that Marinette, Adrien, Nathaniel or even Juleka were there with her – she would feel a lot more confident if they were. Still, they’re not. So Chloé gathers herself up, takes a deep breath, and reaches up to knock gently at the door.

It opens quickly enough, and Madame Rossi says, “Yes?”

“Hi… I’m here to see Lila. I was here yesterday?” Chloé says.

Madame Rossi stares at her for a moment before nodding. “I remember. You and your friends left very quickly.”

“We, uh, we didn’t want to overwhelm Lila with such a big group,” Chloé improvises. “We thought it was better if Sabrina, Rose and Mylène got the chance to visit with her first, and I told Lila I’d come back today.” She pastes on her biggest, brightest, fakest smile, the one she uses when she’s twisting Gabriel Agreste’s arm into letting Adrien have fun once in a while.

“Of course.” Madame Rossi smiles too, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She steps back to let Chloé in. “Lila is upstairs in her room. I’d appreciate it if you kept your visit short.”

“Oh, this won’t take long,” Chloé says, climbing the steps. 

She steels herself again before opening up Lila’s door, not bothering to knock. Part of her is hoping that she’s going to catch Lila in the act, but instead all she sees is Lila sitting on her bed with a magazine open on her lap. Lila glances up when the door opens, a familiar expression of annoyance already on her face, but freezes when she sees who it is. They stare at each other for a moment.

Then Lila recovers and spits out, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Well hello to you too,” Chloé says, stepping into the room and letting the door swing shut behind her. “What’s with the lukewarm reception? I thought you loved it when your classmates came to fawn over you.”

Lila’s eyes narrow. “Right. You hate me and I hate you, so...”

“At least you’re not delirious,” Chloé drawls, crossing her arms over her chest. Any intention she may have had about broaching the subject lightly is now officially off the table. She doesn’t know what they were all thinking. Subtlety and gentle probing is not Chloé’s strong point.

“Are you here trying to prove that I’m not sick?” Lila says with a light, disbelieving laugh.

“Not at all. I’m here to figure out _why_ you’re sick,” Chloé replies, looking her right in the eyes. There’s another, even more tense few seconds during which they stare at each other, and then recognition flashes across Lila’s face. 

“Duusu, spread my feathers!” she yells.

Chloé’s jaw drops as she watches the transformation happen right in front of her eyes. Mayura leaps to her feet and then flings herself at the window, disappearing outside before Chloé even realizes what’s happening. One she does, she swears loudly and rushes over to the window just in time to see Mayura disappearing over the roof of the house next door.

“I guess that confirms Marinette’s theory!” Pollen exclaims, popping out of Chloé’s purse.

“Shit, you’re not wrong. Okay, Pollen. Buzz on!”


	12. Chapter 12

Queen Bee follows Mayura out the window without a second thought. Her heart races as she scans the nearby roofs, wondering if it’s too late and her split second hesitation has cost her their only lead – but then, in the distance, she catches a glimpse of purple being closely pursued by flashes of orange, red, and black. It only takes a moment before she grasps what’s happening and lets out a relieved laugh.

Of course. Of course the rest of the team had followed her this morning. She doesn’t know why she didn’t think of that, but she’s grateful for the forethought that lead to Chat, Ladybug and Filou following her so that they were all nearby when Mayura tried to make her escape. Queen Bee grabs her stinger and launches herself across the rooftops, aiming to catch up with all of them as fast as she can.

“Mayura, stop!” Ladybug is yelling as Queen Bee gets closer. She throws out her yoyo, but Mayura nimbly dodges it. 

“Go to hell, Ladybug!” Mayura shouts back, right before she starts coughing. It’s violent enough to make her double over and lose her footing right as Chat is sneaking up behind her; she falls off the roof and towards the ground and just barely manages to land on her feet instead of her face. As it is, she lands hard enough that it drives her down to one knee.

All four of them land around her, loosely encircling her so that she can’t easily escape. Queen Bee’s pulse thunders in her ears. She’s vaguely aware of all the people around them, considering that it’s the morning rush hour, and the fact that Mayura is going to have plenty of targets if she decides to lash out. She holds her stinger loosely and balances on the balls of her feet, waiting.

“You have to give us the miraculous!” Ladybug says passionately, her face flushed. “It’s literally killing you!”

Mayura scoffs and staggers to her feet. “Yeah right,” she sneers, her expression full of hatred. “You would say anything to get the Peacock away from me. I don’t believe you!”

“She’s telling the truth!” Chat says, stepping up beside Ladybug.

Queen Bee says nothing. Neither does Filou. They’ve already tried to talk some sense into Mayura, but she didn’t want to listen to them. It’s unlikely that speaking up now is going to help the situation. Plus, there’s the whole fact that Lila hates her guts and Filou is the unknown quantity. Talking isn’t going to help.

“Both of you are lying!” Mayura shrieks, snapping her fan up. But before she can get a word out, she’s coughing again. So hard and so deeply that she’s gasping for breath, swinging her fan out to keep the four of them at bay, even though Queen Bee’s pretty sure Mayura can barely see them through the tears in her eyes.

“We’re trying to save you!” Ladybug exclaims, whipping her yoyo out. At the same time, Chat darts forward.

But it seems Mayura’s prepared for that, because she dodges both of them and snaps her fan out again. She whispers something, face pale, and plucks a purple feather from within the fan. It immediately begins to glow a familiar blue and Queen Bee has exactly enough time to think that they’ve completely messed this up, and to look around for whoever might be Mayura’s target – 

When Mayura just…

Stops.

They all freeze as Mayura slumps to the ground and stays there in a crumbled heap, not moving. Queen Bee’s not sure about the others, but she doesn’t even dare _breathe_ as a dull, greyish purple light sweeps over Mayura and detransforms her back into Lila Rossi. A pretty blue kwami materializes above Lila, staring at the four of them with dulled crimson eyes.

“Duusu?” Filou whispers. “Is that… Duusu?”

“Lila?” Ladybug says, her voice shaking. “Lila!”

She’s the first to move, rushing over to Lila and falling to her knees. But even from where she’s standing, Queen Bee can see that Lila’s chest isn’t moving. A chill crawls up her spine and she wants to look away even as she can’t make herself do it; Ladybug grabs Lila’s shoulders and starts shaking her, eyes wide and frantic as she calls out Lila’s name repeatedly. It takes Chat walking over and physically stopping her, gripping Ladybug’s wrists, to make her let go of Lila.

“Stop! I’ll take her to the hospital!” Chat says, gently scooping Lila’s body into his arms. “Maybe they can… maybe it’s not too late…” He looks sickened, kitty ears flat against his head.

“Right, the hospital,” Ladybug says frantically. “Let’s go.”

The two of them – three if you count Duusu – are gone before Queen Bee knows it, leaving her and Filou behind. It’s instinct to chase after them, but Queen Bee quells the urge. She thinks she knows what’s going to happen, and, if she’s right, she doesn’t want to be there for it. She doesn’t want to be there when the doctors pronounce Lila dead. She doesn’t want to see how destroyed Ladybug and Chat are going to be, because this is one thing that the miraculous cure can’t fix.

Filou walks over to her and says, “We need to go.”

Queen Bee looks up at him in confusion. He meets her gaze and then deliberately flicks his eyes to the side. Right. She belatedly remembers that like a quarter of Paris is watching them right now, or so it seems. Her stomach churns when she looks around and sees all the cellphones pointed in their direction. There’s so many that it’s dizzying, and, in a moment of weakness, she finds herself groping for Filou’s hand.

“Come on,” he says, frustratingly gentle, and grips her hand a little too hard in return. 

They take to the rooftops, heading back towards the hotel. Queen Bee lands on her balcony and sits down hard on one of the chairs outside. Filou ducks inside, because it’s considerably less safe for him to detransform out in the open. After a moment of numb disbelief, Queen Bee unsteadily gets to her feet and follows him. She finds Nathaniel sitting on her bed, head in his hands.

“Buzz off,” she whispers, and her transformation comes apart in a sparkle of yellow light.

“Chloé, I’m sorry,” Pollen says, the instant she appears, and Chloé’s throat gets tight.

“We were too late,” Nathaniel says. “We should’ve tried harder. We should’ve…” He cuts himself off with a shuddery exhale.

Comfort is _so_ not Chloé’s thing. She tries not to grimace as she walks over to the bed and sits beside him. “We did the best we could. As soon as we figured it out, I went to talk to her… _I_ did the best I could.” The words ring false to her ears.

But Nathaniel lifts his head with a weak smile and says, “I know you did. Let’s face it. Lila was never going to listen to anyone affiliated with Ladybug and Chat Noir. It wouldn’t have mattered if you went, I went, or we sent Artemal or the guardian or – or anyone. She hated Ladybug too much for that. And she really thought Hawkmoth gave her the Peacock miraculous because he wanted her help.”

Chloé’s quiet for a moment. “Why _do_ you think Hawkmoth gave her the Peacock?”

Nathaniel frowns. “Um… your guess is as good as mine. Maybe he wanted to see how far she would get? I find it hard to believe he really thought she would get the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses…”

“Maybe he wanted to see what kind of damage it would do,” Trixx pipes up, settling on Nathaniel’s knee.

“That’s horrible!” Nathaniel exclaims.

Trixx shrugs. “Hawkmoth has killed dozens of people,” he points out. “The only reason those people survived, or were brought back, is because Ladybug uses her cure. He’s never cared about anyone’s life in the past, so why would he care about Lila’s now?”

“That makes sense,” Pollen says thoughtfully, buzzing softly as she lands on the bed. “The old Mayura has to have been suffering some ill effects from the Peacock too. So, it’s possible Hawkmoth was trying to get more data by monitoring what happened to Lila and how long it took… and if she did manage to get the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous, so much the better. But I bet that wasn’t his actual goal.”

“He was using Lila as a guinea pig,” Chloé says, stunned, seeing her revulsion reflected in Nathaniel’s face.

Suddenly, Nathaniel sits upright. “Wait. If that’s true, doesn’t that mean Hawkmoth will be after the Peacock miraculous again?!”

“Oh shit,” Chloé breathes, realizing that he’s right. It’s likely that what happened has hit social media by now, and Ladybug and Chat are out there alone with the Peacock miraculous.

She scrambles off the bed, yelling for her transformation, Nathaniel on her heels. They bolt to the balcony and leap off, heading for the closest hospital from where Lila collapsed. Unfortunately, Le Grand Paris is a good fifteen minute rooftop run in the opposite direction, so it takes them both over half an hour at top speed to make it there. Queen Bee has never felt like she’s moved slower.

And when they get there, she can tell immediately they’re too late. It’s not even Ladybug and Chat they encounter on the rooftop across from the hospital. It’s Adrien and Marinette. Marinette’s tear-streaked, bruised face tells Queen Bee everything they need to know. She hits the rooftop and races over, immediately concerned about Adrien who is laying so limply in Marinette’s lap.

“What happened? Adrien?!” Queen Bee says frantically.

Adrien opens an eye. “Hey Chlo,” he says lowly.

“Hawkmoth ambushed us and stole the Peacock miraculous,” Marinette says numbly.

Guilt crashes over Queen Bee’s shoulders. They should’ve gone with Ladybug and Chat, she knows. It was stupid not to. She sinks to her knees beside Marinette, feeling hollow. Filou kneels in front of them, looking Marinette and Adrien over. Neither of them look overly hurt, but Queen Bee knows exactly what a sharp rap from Hawkmoth’s cane feels like. It hurts like a bitch.

“We should’ve gone with you,” Filou says, correctly interpreting Queen Bee’s thoughts.

Marinette slowly shakes her head. “No, you were right not to. The hospital turned into a frenzy when we dropped Lila off. People who’d seen what happened online had figured out where we were going and were waiting here for us. And you couldn’t have known Hawkmoth would be out here waiting.”

“And frankly, I’m not sure it would’ve mattered if you _had_ been here. He’s just… so strong.” Adrien sits up, wincing, and cradles something in his left arm. Plagg, Queen Bee realizes after a beat, who looks completely exhausted. 

“We’ll beat him. We’re all in shock. It wasn’t an even fight,” Filou says, but he doesn’t really sound like he believes that.

“What about Lila?” Queen Bee asks, realizing that no one is going to bring up the obvious. 

“The doctors were working on her, but…” Adrien trails off and looks away. Marinette brings her hands up over her face and starts crying. Tikki pats weakly at Marinette’s shoulder, looking grave.

Queen Bee can finish that sentence in her mind a dozen ways and none of them come out well for Lila. She breathes through the sharp pang of – guilt? Grief? Anger? As best she can, realizing that it’s not even wholly hers. The heavy weight on her chest is from all of them, Marinette and Adrien and Filou: discordance is the hive is always a problem, but it’s never felt quite like this. 

“What do we do now?” Filou asks.

“You go home,” Tikki says. “All of you. Right now.”

“I don’t think I can,” Marinette sobs. “I don’t want Maman and Papa to see me like this. I can’t face them.”

“I’d rather not go home either,” Adrien admits, shifting to wrap an arm around Marinette’s shoulders.

“Then you can come back with me,” Queen Bee says. She won’t say it out loud, but she knows that having the hive closer will make her feel better. It might make all of them feel better, for that matter. They can sit and wait for news of Lila; she’s positive that it won’t take long for information to make its way around.

“That would be great,” Adrien says, mouth moving like he’s trying to smile, but he can’t figure out how. And Queen Bee can’t blame him.

What _are_ they supposed to do now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter helps to clarify why Lila didn't attempt to hide who she was. She was very sick at that point (sicker than she consciously realized) and it was messing with her ability to think clearly.


	13. Chapter 13

At just after 5pm, several hours after Ladybug and Chat Noir took Lila Rossi to the hospital, a special report comes up on the television. Chloé sits up slowly, her heart thumping uncommonly hard against her ribs. All four of them have been scrutinizing social media all afternoon, trying to figure out what's going on, but there hasn't been much information. Alya's posted a video of Lila detransforming into Mayura on the Ladyblog, and there are literally thousands of comments, but none of them are helpful. It's just people endlessly speculating about what happened.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Adrien and Marinette grabbing each other's hands. Nathaniel sits alone in Chloé's desk chair, Pollen and Trixx on either shoulder. Tikki and Plagg are both sitting on their respective holder's shoulders. The silence in the room is deafening. Chloé hates it. She crosses her arms over her chest, watching the screen as the words 'Special Report' fade away to show Nadja Chamack. Nadja's dressed in a black suit with a grey blouse, and the somber look on her face speaks volumes. Marinette's breath hitches.

"Don't be bemused, it's just the news," Nadja says with considerably less enthusiasm than usual. "Bonsoir, Paris. I come to you tonight with a heavy heart. Earlier today, this footage of the supervillain Mayura was captured."

Nadja turns around to look at the screen behind her, watching in silence as the video of the this morning plays. It's probably the twentieth time that Chloé's watched it, yet she still sees some new details. Like the tears in Ladybug's eyes as she screams Lila's name and goes running over to her, or the genuinely stricken looks on hers and Filou's faces. They look so young, Chloé thinks to herself. Or at least, the others do. Chat strongly resembles a terrified kitten as he scoops Lila's body and spirits her away with Ladybug right behind him.

"It's been confirmed that Mayura was actually Lila Rossi, a student at Collège Françoise Dupont," Nadja continues once the video has ended. She folds her hands on the table. "Our station has just received word that Lila Rossi was pronounced dead this morning."

Marinette lets out a moan. Nathaniel gasps quietly. Adrien remains utterly still and silent, just staring at the screen. Chloé grits her teeth as the weight on her chest increases tenfold, stealing her breath away. The weight of what she now suspects is the hive's cumulative guilt and grief is a considerable weight to bear indeed. She needs to talk to Pollen, but now isn't the time.

"We've been told that the cause of death was a heart attack, but no official word has been released from Paris's police," Nadja says. "Right now, speculation online is running rampant with many people wanting to know how Lila Rossi got her hands on a miraculous. Sources who were there at the time of Mademoiselle Rossi's death confirm that it seemed like Ladybug, Chat Noir, Queen Bee and Filou were trying to make Mayura surrender her miraculous. We have Ladybug on record saying that the Peacock miraculous was, and I quote, 'killing Mayura'. Did they know who she was? Why didn't they do more? Are all the miraculouses dangerous?"

Nadja pauses a moment, as though to let those questions truly sink in, before she turns fully towards the screen. "Paris police are asking anyone with information to come forward. That includes Ladybug, Chat Noir, Queen Bee and Filou. There are too many unanswered questions about the death of an innocent sixteen-year-old student."

Chloé can't take it anymore and shuts the television off. 

"Well," Nathaniel says quietly. "That was a fucking disaster."

"Why do they want to talk to the four of you?" Plagg demands indignantly. "You haven't done anything wrong."

"We're the only ones they _can_ talk to. It's not like Hawkmoth is going to answer any questions," Nathaniel replies.

"I can't believe Lila is dead," Marinette whispers.

Everyone falls quiet. Adrien pulls Marinette into a hug.

"You can't talk to the police just yet. You should talk to Master Fu first," Tikki says decisively. 

"He can't do anything," Pollen says, wings fluttering in agitation. "And it's not their fault. They should go clear their names before the speculation gets any worse."

"I agree," Trixx says. "The blame for this needs to be placed _squarely_ on Hawkmoth. Didn't you notice that Nadja didn't even mention his name?"

"I really think - " Tikki begins.

"Okay, knock it off," Chloé says sharply. "None of us are doing anything right now, so just _stop_!" She doesn't mean to raise her voice, but somehow it comes out louder than she intended. Miraculously, all four kwamis actually obey.

Time passes by in great, slow swathes. Around 7pm, Nathaniel stands up and mutters something about his parents. He walks out of Chloé's bedroom, Trixx hidden in his jacket and the Fox miraculous around his neck, and Marinette doesn't say a word. When Chloé glances over at her, it's to see that Marinette has her head on Adrien's shoulder and her eyes squeezed shut. Adrien's crying and stroking Marinette's hair at the same time. Frankly, Chloé's not even sure they realize Nathaniel is gone and she's not gonna be the one to break their bubble to tell them.

She slips out onto the balcony, in desperate need of some cool air, and sinks down into a chair. Her head feels thick and too heavy for her shoulders to hold up; she hides her face in her hands and just sits there for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to breathe. She's gotten semi-used to the fact that she's connected to the others, and that the general well-being of the hive is now directly connected to Chloé's well-being. But it's never been like this before. They've never had to deal with something like this... something that the cure can't fix...

"Chloé, are you okay?" Pollen lands on Chloé's knee.

Chloé lets her hands slide from her face. "It hurts, Pollen," she confesses in a whisper. "It hurts so fucking much." She rubs at her chest so Pollen will know what she means. "And I don't - I don't even know if I care that Rossi is dead, but -"

"That's the downside to being a Bee," Pollen says quietly. "Especially a _good_ Bee like you."

"I don't know if I can bear it," Chloé says, and that's not something she would admit to literally anyone else. But this is Pollen, her kwami, who already holds all of Chloé's deepest secrets, so what's one more?

"It will get better in time, as the hive heals from what's been done," Pollen tells her. "But it is a terrible thing to bear in the meantime, and I'm so sorry. I feel it too."

"You do?" Chloé says in surprise.

"Yes, though probably not as deeply as you do. We kwami have seen many humans come and go. And while what happened to Lila is terrible, it's not unexpected. It wouldn't be the first time that evil men and women have sought to hurt innocent people for their own gains," Pollen explains solemnly. "Even people as young as Lila. I guess... as awful as it is to say, we're a little more used to it."

Chloé purses her lips and doesn't say anything for a long time. Pollen's right. It does sound awful. But Chloé can also sort of see where she's coming from. When you live for literally hundreds of years, the death of one person probably barely registers as a blip on your radar. Too bad she, Nathaniel, Marinette and Adrien can't say the same thing. This is going to tear Marinette up for months, if not years. She takes her duties as Ladybug way too seriously for anything else. She'll never forgive herself for not being able to save Lila, even though they all did what they could and there was nothing else Ladybug could've done.

"You'll be okay," Pollen says finally, flying up to rest on Chloé's shoulder. She starts buzzing, a soft thrum right beneath the curve of Chloé's jaw. It's more comforting than Chloé wants to admit.

Sitting there, in the twilight with Pollen and no other witnesses, she might cry a little. 

When Paris has faded into the dark, and the clouds overhead have blotted out the moon and stars, Chloé wipes her face, gets up, and goes back inside. She's not surprised to find that Adrien and Marinette are both passed out, their limbs so intertwined that it's hard to tell where one steps and the other begins. Chloé walks over to the bed and stands there for a moment, hands on her hips, just staring at them. Life was so much easier when she was just a bitch who didn't care about anything, and for one blazing moment she _really_ hates Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

But the anger fades as quickly as it comes, because it's not Marinette's fault and ugh, as much as Chloé hates to admit it, she's grown up enough to realize that. No, her anger should be resolved solely for Hawkmoth. This is all his fault. He's the one who brought torment to Paris in the first place; he's the one who stole both the Butterfly and the Peacock miraculous; he's the one who decided to use the Peacock; he's the one who gave the Peacock to Lila Rossi without telling Lila about how dangerous it was. It's all Hawkmoth. And someday, Chloé is going to punch that asshole in the face.

"What are you doing?" Plagg says, and Chloé startles.

"Nothing," she says automatically, defensively, before remembering why she came over to the bed in the first place. She slips a hand into Marinette's pocket and pulls out Marinette's cell phone.

"Hey! That's not yours!" Tikki hisses, shooting up.

"Relax. I don't even know Marinette's password," Chloé says. Though she's pretty sure she could guess it, she tosses the phone Tikki's way. "But I know you do. Text Marinette's parents. Tell them she's staying with - shit, I don't know, Alya or whatever friend will keep them from freaking out."

Tikki pauses, eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Do I look like I want to deal with anyone else sobbing today?" Chloé snaps, making her way to her desk where her own phone is. Plagg flies over to her as she unlocks her phone and starts typing out a new message to Nathalie Sancoeur. See, there's no point in having Plagg pretend to be Adrien (or even Chloé pretending, because she definitely knows Adrien's password). Nathalie doesn't care what Adrien wants. She'll steamroll right over him and demand Adrien come home.

But Chloé. Chloé is a wholly different story. Nathalie won't want to piss her off. It's been a long time since Chloé fell back on threatening people with her daddy's influence, but she's prepared to do it again for Adrien. Mayor Bourgeois could make life pretty uncomfortable for Gabriel Agreste. It won't be worth Gabriel trying to force Adrien to come home tonight if Chloé wants Adrien to stay. So it's with a faint smirk that Chloé quickly types out a curt text to Nathalie, telling, not asking, the woman that Adrien is staying at the hotel tonight for a sleepover.

"Nice," Plagg says, a matching smirk on his face.

"I live for your approval," Chloé says mildly, locking her phone. She idly taps it against her lips as she watches Adrien and Marinette sleep. Someone's gonna have to go talk to the police. And just like with Lila, Chloé is probably going to have to be that someone. Ladybug is the best known and the most trusted, of course, but Chloé is the only one with a team of lawyers and the knowledge of how to use them if the police aren't willing to see reason. Plus, Marinette is barely capable of breathing without sobbing right now.

Maybe she'll text Sabrina tomorrow and set up a meeting with her father. That might be the easiest way to get things done. And then... Chloé sighs, dropping her hands into her lap. There'll probably be a funeral. That's going to be great. She's already dreading the thought of having to attend. Normally she's not someone who cares about things like appearances or what other people think, but there's a slight chance Hawkmoth could show up to rub everyone's faces in it - or that someone could be akumatized. She's not gonna make that mistake twice.

"It's gonna be a long few days," Chloé mutters, getting up and wearily walking over to the bed. Pros of being a spoiled kid: it's easily big enough for the three of them. She drops down on the other side of Adrien and curls up against his back just as Tikki gets a response back from Marinette's parents. Chloé glances at the screen just long enough to see that Marinette's got permission to stay before she closes her eyes, presses her face to Adrien's back, and does her damndest to forget this miserable day ever happened.


	14. Chapter 14

Morning comes too early, not that Chloé really slept. She texts Sabrina as soon as the sun comes up, and make an appointment with Lieutenant Roger Raincomprix for eight. The sooner she gets this over with, the better. Then she peels herself out of the bed, grumpy and tired after two nights in a row of little sleep, and stumbles into the bathroom to shower and make herself look halfway awake.

By the time she emerges, clad in a towel, Adrien and Marinette are both awake too. Chloé gives them a nod and continues on her way over to the closet, already planning what she’s going to wear. Something solemn would probably be best, she thinks, scanning her clothing with a critical eye. She has a pair of black jeans and a white top. With a black cardigan overtop, that’ll do.

“Chloé, did you really make an appointment with Sabrina’s dad?” Marinette asks as Chloé ducks into the closet to start getting dressed.

“Of course I did. You want them running down Ladybug to ask questions the next time an akuma pops up?” Chloé demands, dropping her towel and pulling on panties.

“No, but – maybe I should do it,” Marinette says, and she sounds flustered already. Chloé rolls her eyes as she puts on her bra.

“Please. I think Queen Bee has been around long enough for them to take my word for it. All they want is confirmation of who to blame,” she says briskly. “I can give them that. You should go talk to Master Fu, like Tikki wanted you to. I hardly think you want _me_ doing that.”

There’s a telling silence, and she assumes Marinette and Adrien are doing that thing where they’re looking at each other and having what’s basically a silent conversation. She hauls on the jeans, pulls on the white top, and takes her black cardigan off the hanger. There are half a dozen small bees embroidered around the neckline of the cardigan, which is the whole reason Chloé bought it.

She steps out of the closet, pulling her hair up into a ponytail, and sure enough the two of them are staring into each other’s eyes. It’s kind of gross, but Chloé withholds comment – at least Marinette isn’t sobbing all over the place. She sits down at her make-up desk and scowls at her reflection, taking in the puffy bags under her eyes and her pale skin. She looks like shit.

“Okay, fine. But only if Adrien goes with you. Well, Chat,” Marinette says.

“Fine, but only if Nathaniel goes with you,” Chloé retorts, catching a glimpse of said boy in her mirror.

“I’m okay with that,” Nathaniel says, and both Adrien and Marinette jump.

“What? I don’t need you to come with me. I’m fine,” Marinette says.

Chloé ignores her. Grabbing her foundation, she says to Nathaniel, “If Master Fu so much as _glances_ at the Ladybug earrings, slap him as hard as you can, grab Marinette, and run.”

“_ Chloé_!” Marinette exclaims.

“Got it,” Nathaniel says.

“Nathaniel!” Marinette says, looking increasingly wild.

“He’s an old man, so tackling him to the ground is also acceptable,” Chloé says, completely ignoring Marinette. 

“So basically whatever it takes,” Nathaniel says with a faint smirk, flicking his fringe out of his eyes. He’s wearing grey jeans and a black t-shirt under a black jacket. As she starts her make-up, Chloé eyes him. Then she looks at Marinette and Adrien.

“That’s not necessary,” Adrien says. “Master Fu will understand.” But he doesn’t sound convinced, so Chloé elects to ignore him too.

“Both of you should shower. Marinette, you can borrow an outfit.” Chloé tries not to grimace at the idea. “Adrien, you know where your clothes are.”

Adrien goes to shower first, while Chloé finishes her make-up. Thank god for foundation, concealer, blush, mascara, eyeliner, lip liner, and lipstick. She actually looks halfway presentable when she’s done, more like the sixteen-year-old daughter of Mayor Bourgeois and not a walking zombie. She ties her hair up in a ponytail, adds the Bee miraculous, and is done in time to shove a black dress and old red scarf from her closet into Marinette’s arms.

“Alright, you ready?” Adrien says to her once he’s dressed in black jeans and a white shirt. 

“Yup,” Chloé says, far more confidently than she feels. Pollen flies into her bra as she turns to go.

“Plagg, claws out!” Adrien whispers behind her, before Chat follows.

Lieutenant Raincomprix is already there, with an officer that Chloé doesn’t know, in one of her father’s meeting rooms. Mayor Bourgeois is there too, which Chloé is considerably less happy about. Her father’s presence tends to overcomplicate everything, though she belatedly realizes that, since she’s still underage, of course he’s there. Technically Gabriel Agreste should be too. The thought makes Chloé want to laugh or scoff, she’s not sure which.

“Chloé, I’m not sure about this,” Mayor Bourgeois says.

“Chill out, Daddy,” Chloé says. “It’s not gonna take long, right, Lieutenant?” She sharpens her smile.

“We just want to know what happens,” Raincomprix says with a nod. “Mademoiselle Bourgeois, Chat Noir. Let’s sit down and talk.”

They all sit, including Mayor Bourgeois. Chloé can see him typing at his cell phone and just knows that he’s calling in his legal representation. Which is fine. They don’t need it, but it doesn’t hurt. She crosses her arms over her chest and regards the two police officers with an air of forced calm. Beside her, Chat is unusually still and quiet. He’s going to let her take the reigns here.

“We can’t actually tell you that much, mostly because we’re only just putting things together too,” Chloé says. “Basically, yesterday morning we figured out that Lila Rossi was Mayura. I went to confront her.”

The officer Chloé doesn’t know begin taking notes. Raincomprix says, “You didn’t know who she was?”

“She was working with Hawkmoth. Of course we didn’t know,” Chloé replies. 

“Then how did you figure it out?” he asks.

“Rossi is – was in my class.” Chloé just barely stutters over correcting herself. Chat twitches next to her, but she pretends not to notice. “She’d been getting increasingly sick lately, but she told our whole class that the doctors weren’t sure why. There’s something wrong with the Peacock miraculous. It’s broken. Using it slowly makes a user sick until they die.”

Raincomprix frowns. “Was Rossi aware of that?”

“We, that is, my teammates and I tried to tell her. But she didn’t want to listen to us. She thought we were lying to her to get her to give up her miraculous,” Chloé says.

“Are any of the other miraculous broken?” Raincomprix wants to know.

Chloé glances at Chat. He shrugs. She guesses she might as well answer. “Not to our knowledge.”

“Where is the Peacock miraculous now?” he asks.

“Hawkmoth has it,” Chat says quietly. “He ambushed Ladybug and me after we took Lila to the hospital.”

“So this dangerous weapon is back in the hands of a criminal,” the other officer says scornfully.

“Yeah, and why don’t you blame the _criminal_ for that?” Chloé shoots back, low-key buzzing. “Ladybug and Chat were understandably distraught after what happened, considering we had all just seen someone _die_ right in front of us!”

God she’s glad Ladybug isn’t here. 

Raincomprix holds up a hand when the officer goes to respond, shooting his partner a warning glare. To Chloé, he says, “We mean no disrespect, Madamoiselle. It’s just, we’ve got a dead teenager on our hands and no one to blame.”

“You have Hawkmoth to blame. He gave Lila the miraculous. He didn’t tell her what was wrong with it, or how it would affect her. When we bring him to justice, arrest him and add that to the list of charges,” Chloé says. “But don’t blame us for something that isn’t our fault. We all tried our hardest to _save_ Lila, and I know that Ladybug would give _anything_ to be able to use her cure to bring Lila back.”

“No one is blaming you,” Raincomprix says soothingly. “I phrased that poorly. Of course everyone in Paris knows that Hawkmoth is responsible for this. We just want to make sure that we know all the details. Do you know when Lila got the miraculous?”

“Not exactly,” Chloé says. She thinks for a moment, then tentatively names the dates when the new Mayura first appeared. It’s a bit of a shock to realize that it’s just over a month ago. A month. That’s how long Lila lasted with the Peacock miraculous.

“And did her health begin to decline right away?” 

“I don’t know. I’m not really friends with her,” Chloé answers. “I think… I think I remember her saying that she’s felt like she had a cold for a long time. You can check with my other classmates. We all went to visit her two days ago.”

“If you’re not her friend, why did you go visit her?” Raincomprix asks.

“She’s still my classmate, and I was explicitly asked to go,” Chloé snaps. That’s not exactly true, but she doubts Rose will remember asking Nathaniel but not Chloé. 

Raincomprix nods. “Can you tell me who went with you?”

“Sabrina was there. Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Mylène Haprèle and Ivan Bruel,” she lists quickly, hoping that, if Nathaniel is in the middle of the list, they’ll pay less attention to him. Just to rub it in, she adds, “Sabrina, Rose and Mylène were the closest to Lila, so they would probably know more details about her than the rest of us.”

“Okay. Okay, this is good,” Raincomprix says, not reacting to his daughter’s name. “So you said you figured Lila out because she’d been getting sick. That doesn’t seem like much to go on.”

“It was a theory. I decided to test it,” Chloé says, leaving out the part where she was volunteered. “I barely got two sentences out to Lila before she freaked out, transformed and took off. I went after her.”

“Did you tell her at that time that the Peacock was killing her?” 

“No. She didn’t give me the chance. But Filou and I told her the last time we encountered her, when there was that akuma who could see everything,” Chloé says. Judging by the way the two officers grimace, she assumes that means they know exactly what akuma she’s referencing.

“Do you remember what you said?” Raincomprix asks.

“Uh… not really. I know that Ladybug told her yesterday that the miraculous was killing her, and Mayura chose to try and attack us rather than listen.” Chloé screws her face up, trying to remember. “Back then… I think Filou told her that it was dangeorus, but Mayura was going on and on about how she’d made a deal with Hawkmoth. She said that if she got the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses, Hawkmoth would give her whatever she wanted and that’s why she had the Peacock miraculous.”

Raincomprix sits up, intrigued now. “Did she say what she wanted?”

“No. And I have no idea,” Chloé says, though she can guess. Knowing Lila, it probably would’ve involved Adrien as her boyfriend, or maybe the ability to have any lie she spoke come true, or maybe even Marinette’s or Ladybug’s deaths. It’s hard to say how spiteful Lila was planning to be.

“Interesting,” Raincomprix says slowly. “So Lila freaked out. Do you know why?”

“Probably because she knows I’m Queen Bee and could guess why I’m there?” Chloé says.

“Then why send you? Why not send one of your other teammates who weren’t transformed?” he asks.

Chloé shoots him a cold look. “Because what if Rossi had figured them out, gotten away, and taken that information back to Hawkmoth?” she says pointedly. “It’s dangerous enough that all of Paris knows who I am. We can’t really afford to have anyone else at risk.”

“Right, right.” Raincomprix glances at his partner before turning back to Chloé. “Well, I think we’ve got all we need to know for now. But we have more questions later.”

“Sure,” Chloé says, suddenly drained. Really, the only secret she’s hidden from them is that Ladybug, Filou, and Chat Noir are in Lila’s class too. It’s not like she has anything else that she can share. The facts are basic. This is all Hawkmoth’s fault. 

“I’ll see you out,” Chat says, getting up. He squeezes Chloé’s shoulder as he passes, and she knows that he’s pleased with her. The realization sparks a small warmth in her heart, beneath the layers of grief.

At least, until Mayor Bourgeois turns to her and says, “I want it to stop, Chloé.”

“What?” Chloé asks, genuinely baffled.

“You being Queen Bee. I want it to stop. It’s too dangerous.” He stares at her, two spots of red high in his cheeks. “You’re not to do it anymore.”


	15. Chapter 15

“Are you… are you _kidding_ me right now?” Chloé says, her voice jumping up in pitch. This is absolutely the last thing she needs to hear right now. Her father always did have a shitty sense of timing. She stares him down, willing him to do the smart thing and just shut up, but of course that doesn’t happen, and Mayor Bourgeois just folds his hands together with an earnest expression that really gets under her skin. How dare pull the ‘good parent’ act now?

“This is for your own good. You’re my daughter, and I can’t in good conscience allow you to continue putting yourself in harm’s way,” he says sternly. “That miraculous _killed_ that girl.”

“That’s because it’s broken. My miraculous is perfectly safe,” Chloé says, trying hard not to get snappy. But honestly, she’s tired, and she feels like she’s drowning in grief that’s not even hers, and she really doesn’t have time for this. Despite her tone, her father keeps right on talking.

“But you’re still out there fighting every day. What happens when you meet an akuma that’s too strong?” he asks.

Chloé sucks in a breath, remembering the bear akuma that Alya got akumatized into. The footage of that fight was never released by virtue of the fact that it took place at their school before anyone else was really there, and there was no Alya around to risk her life trying to record it. Right now, Chloé thanks her lucky stars for that. Mayor Bourgeois probably would've tried to pull the plug on her being Queen Bee a long time if he knew how close she had come to dying. 

Unconsciously, she puts a hand to her side where she was wounded. "Ladybug's cure will always heal everyone," she says. 

"It didn't heal Lila!"

"That's because she didn't die during an akuma attack," Chloé says. "Look, I don't have time for this." She starts to get up. Mayor Bourgeois reaches out and grabs her wrist.

"We're not finished, Chloé. The fact that Ladybug has her cure doesn't negate the fact that you could still be hurt, and I am not comfortable with that. You might not like it, but I _am_ your father and I'm in charge of you. You will give your miraculous back to Ladybug, understood?"

Chloé laughs mirthlessly. "Give it back? Do you even know what I went through to get it?" She wrenches her wrist away, glaring at him. "Look, _Daddy_." She suffices that word with as much mocking as she can. "I am Queen Bee. I will always be Queen Bee. You think Hawkmoth isn't aware of that? You think it would be any safer for me if I didn't have a miraculous? At least I can defend myself this way if he shows up on our doorstep. But no, let's give away my only source of defence. Yeah, that sounds like a great plan."

Mayor Bourgeois flushes. "Then we'll send you out of Paris. You can go live with your mother in New York, just like you always wanted."

She freezes then, staring at him, momentarily speechless. He's looking at her like he thinks she's going to jump at the chance, and it's then that Chloé really, truly realizes that her father just has no fucking clue. He has no idea that Chloé's attitude towards Audrey Bourgeois has done a complete 180 now that she's realized that Audrey will never care about her no matter what she does. He has no idea that being Queen Bee is the only thing that matters to her now, and that the thought of losing Pollen makes her want to curl up and cry. He has no idea that the only thing worse than fighting is having to sit by and watch the hive go on without her, feeling this discordance but unable to fix it.

Every protective instinct Chloé possesses flares to the surface, and she leans in close to the mayor and snarls, "I'm not going _anywhere_, got it? I am Queen Bee and I will protect my hive no matter what it takes, and nothing you say or do can stop me." Then she spins on her heel and storms out of the room before she says something that she might regret.

"Chloé!" Mayor Bourgeois shouts after her, but she already knows he won't come after her. He's spent sixteen years giving her whatever she wants on a silver platter just to keep her quiet; he doesn't even know _how_ to say no to her, especially not when it really counts. 

She barges into the hall and almost immediately bangs right into Chat. He grabs her shoulders to keep her from falling, then takes one look at her face and switches to picking her up bridal style. Normally Chloé opposes the idea of being a damsel-in-distress on a fundamental level, but right now she's got to get away from her father or she's going to lose her goddamn mind. And she's so thankful for Adrien in that moment, because he immediately turns around and heads for the nearest window. He cracks it open and they're out the window and free-falling before Mayor Bourgeois even gets out of the meeting room.

Chat doesn't let them fall for long, letting go of Chloé's legs long enough to grab for his baton. He hits the button and it rapidly extends, the end slamming into the sidewalk below and startling several people walking by. It slows their momentum so that they land easily on the sidewalk. Chloé still feels numb with the impact. Chat looks at her, pats her arm, and takes off with the baton. She just stands there, not moving, until about five minutes later when Adrien comes racing up to her, which means he found a nearby alley to hide in and detransform.

“Chloé, what happened? I saw Chat Noir set you down!” he says loudly for the benefit of everyone around them.

“I need coffee,” Chloé says, which translates to ‘I need to be anywhere except for here’.

“Right. We can do that,” Adrien says, gently taking hold of her arm. He wraps an arm around her shoulders, tucking her close, and walks her down the street until they find a small, relatively private café. 

Adrien sits her down and goes up to order; he comes back quickly with two drinks. Chloé takes one, glad to have her hands wrapped around something warm. Her stomach churns with a mixture of anger and frustration at her father’s horrible timing. How could he ask her to give up her miraculous now, when Ladybug and Chat Noir will need Queen Bee the most?

“What happened?” Adrien asks after a couple of minutes, studying her face. “What did your father say?”

“He told me he wanted me to stop being Queen Bee. He wants me to give my miraculous up,” Chloé tells him.

“What?! That’s crazy!” Adrien bursts out, so loudly that a few people turn to look at them. He promptly turns pink and hunkers down over his drink. Chloé’s pretty sure she hears Plagg snickering.

“Right? That’s what I said to him. And then he said…” Chloé gives a quiet, bitter laugh. “Get this. He said that if being in Paris is too dangerous for me, he’d send me to live with my mom.”

“Wow,” Adrien says. “That’s… yikes.”

“He has no idea,” Chloé says, frustration welling up inside her. “How could he think that I’d want that? It’s bad enough living here. He thinks I should go to New York and spend the next god knows how many years fighting for a scrap of affection –” She cuts herself off when her throat starts getting tight. 

She’s finally gotten to the point where she can admit to herself that Audrey Bourgeois will never see anything in her. Audrey’s not capable of loving Chloé the way a normal parent would love their child, and Chloé just isn’t interesting or good enough to capture her mother’s attention. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, considering that Chloé’s always harbored a hope that someday Audrey might… well, might see her as something worthy. 

Even now, a speck of that hope burns away deep inside of her no matter how hard she tries to extinguish it with bitter reality. She hates the fact that a tiny part of her actually wants to accept her father’s offer, even though logically she knows how horrendous that visit would be. Hell, the week she spent with Audrey was enough to make Chloé want to pull her own hair out. Now that she’s not trying to impress her mom by acting like her, Chloé’s never met anyone as stuck-up, vain and vacuous as Audrey Bourgeois.

It’s frustrating that her dad can’t see that. It’s painful to know that he’s glossed right over reality, preferring instead to cling to his perfect world where Audrey actually loves their child. And it sucks that she can’t explain it to him, because Mayor Bourgeois has never listened to Chloé a day in his life. He prefers to shove money and material objects at her, like those are adequate substitutes for a parent’s time and affection. Her dad might love her, but he doesn’t _know_ her. Not really.

“I’m sorry,” Adrien says quietly, reaching across the table and lacing their fingers together. 

Chloé can’t speak or she’ll burst into tears, but she nods and clutches tightly at his hand while she gets herself under control. Out of everyone, Adrien understands the best. Gabriel Agreste is not unlike Audrey. He doesn’t see Adrien as worthy either. But whereas Audrey has dismissed Chloé entirely, Gabriel’s taken to treating Adrien like a commodity for his business – and Adrien doesn’t even have the benefit of a second parent pretending to care.

She’s not really sure if Adrien has accepted that his father doesn’t love him, or if he’s still holding out hope that someday he’ll find the magical key to Gabriel changing his mind. The closer he gets to Marinette, the better off he seems to be. But Chloé knows all too well how you can think you’ve made peace with something, and then the parent in question can wrench the rug out from under your feet.

She takes a couple sips of her drink, taking comfort from both Adrien’s hand and the soft buzzing happening near her collarbone. Pollen nuzzles against her cheek. Chloé is immeasurably grateful for both her kwami and Adrien right now. She’s not really sure what she would’ve done without them.

“What did you say?” Adrien asks after a considerable length of time.

She sighs. “I basically told him to fuck off.”

Adrien snorts with laughter. “Oh, Chloé.”

“I don’t want to give up my miraculous,” she says in a small voice.

“We don’t want you to, either. Ladybug’s and my job would’ve been _way_ harder over the last few months with you,” Adrien says warmly, squeezing her hand. “What happened to Lila is just… it’s awful. But I don’t think us backing away from the situation is the answer.”

“It’s not,” Plagg pipes up. “It’ll just make things worse.” His little head pops up above the table. “Your phone is vibrating.”

“It is?” Adrien blinks in surprise, setting his drink down and reaching for his phone. His face clears, a little spark in his eyes, and Chloé knows immediately who it is.

“What does Marinette want?” she asks.

“She and Nathaniel just finished with Master Fu. She says Master Fu was saddened by Lila’s death, but not surprised. He suspected this might happen as soon as he heard that there was a new Peacock holder,” Adrien says, reading from the screen. “He wants us to focus on getting the Peacock back.”

“Yeah, cause we haven’t been trying to do that all along,” Chloé says with a sigh. She’ll have to find out later from Nathaniel if Master Fu said anything about Ladybug and Chat get jumped by Hawkmoth. If he did, she’s going to have _words_.

“I think Master Fu just doesn’t know what else to tell us,” Adrien says, setting his phone down. “He can’t fix this. He can’t mitigate what happened.” He shrugs helplessly. “What else is there for the guardian to say?”

“Not much,” Chloé mutters, finishing off her drink. “Do you think we should… I dunno, make an announcement about the Peacock being dangerous? Warn people?”

Adrien contemplates that. “Maybe. I just don’t want people to start thinking that _all_ the miraculous are dangerous. And I doubt that Hawkmoth is going to be able to pull the same trick a second time…”

“I hope not,” Chloé says, though she won’t be surprised to see another Mayura, or even the original, pop back up. “But Adrien… you know we’re gonna have to make a statement about this. And by we, I mean Ladybug. People are going to want answers.”

“Ugh,” Adrien groans. “I know. Marinette’s not ready for that.”

“Well… she may not have a choice,” Chloé says, looking out the window again. She has a thought brewing, but she won’t share it just yet. She needs to talk to Marinette first.


	16. Chapter 16

The morning of Lila’s funeral dawns clear and cool. The sun is just cresting the horizon by the time Chloé gives up on pretending to sleep and crawls out of bed. She showers and does her make-up, then pulls on a black dress and black shoes. Even with make-up, the somber clothing makes her look washed out and pale. The fact that the weight in her chest, the discordance and sheer _grief_ and _guilt_ within the hive, is the strongest that it’s been yet isn’t helping matters.

“How am I supposed to bear this, Pollen?” Chloé asks, her breathing shallow. She can’t imagine what the others, especially Marinette, are going through to make it this bad. It’s Chloé’s responsibility as the Bee to put to protect the hive and soothe out the problems, and she knows these feelings are an indicator that something is _very_ wrong, but this is one situation that she can’t fix.

“I’m sorry,” Pollen says, looking genuinely anguished. “It will get better, my queen. It usually hurts the worst right before people begin to heal.”

“That’s comforting,” Chloé mutters, pulling a brush through her hair. She listlessly gathers it into a ponytail and affixes the Bee miraculous front and center.

“I wish I could help,” Pollen says softly. “The role of the Bee is never easy. It’s often underestimated or dismissed as unimportant. But it’s not. Clearly I’m biased, but I think the Bee is one of the most important. You _know_ that something is wrong. Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Filou can’t know that for sure unless they talk to each other about it. You have that advantage.”

“I’m not sure that’s what I would call it,” Chloé says, looping the strap of her purse over her head. She can see what Pollen means, and she knows why it matters – if she were separated from the team and didn’t know what happened, this would definitely alert her – but it really sucks in the moment. 

Pollen flies into her purse and Chloé unsteadily makes her way downstairs. Mayor Bourgeois’s mouth tightens when he sees the miraculous in her hair, but he doesn’t say anything. He’s barely spoken to her since their conversation. Part of Chloé thinks he’s not going to, and that he’ll just pretend it never happened. Her dad does that a lot with awkward or uncomfortable conversations; it’s part of why he’s such a successful mayor.

They travel to the funeral site in the same vehicle. But when they get there, Chloé leaves him to circulate and heads into the crowd. There’s a lot of people here and she doesn’t think it’s her imagination that some of them are staring at her. She pretends she doesn’t notice as she searches for her hive, so preoccupied in looking that she doesn’t even notice Juleka until a cool arm slides through hers.

“You look lonely,” Juleka says in Chloé’s ear. 

“Did you get the wrong idea and think we’re friends now?” Chloé says, but she doesn’t pull away. She glances at the shadow over Juleka’s shoulder and is surprised to recognize him.

“Hi,” Luka says with a small smile. 

“Hi,” Chloé says, glancing away from him. Her eyes wander over the crowd.

“Marinette’s not here yet,” Juleka says, accurately guessing who Chloé is looking for.

“Figures,” Chloé mutters. “That girl is never on time for anything…” She doesn’t see Adrien or Nathaniel either. Discomfort prickles over her skin, though it’s lessened where she’s touching Juleka.

Ugh. The knowledge of what that means hangs heavy at the back of Chloé’s mind. Another hive member, goddamnit. As though having three of them isn’t enough, it won’t be long before she’s got Juleka to worry about too? It’s almost enough to make her want to take the Tiger miraculous away from Juleka permanently – and yet she can’t, because Juleka is an ideal wielder and it’s for the betterment of the hive that Juleka have it when necessary.

“The services don’t start for another twenty minutes,” Luka points out. “Why don’t you go wait for them outside?”

“Good idea,” Chloé says, since it’ll at least get her away from the stares. She moves forward and Juleka falls into step beside her, which is weird but whatever.

“Sorry,” Juleka says awkwardly as they move outside. “I know my brother wanted to go hang out with his friends, and Rose has been crying over Lila all morning. I needed a break.”

“Fair,” Chloé concedes, since she can’t imagine trying to comfort someone crying over Lila. She supposes it would be uncomfortable to stand in a crowded room of people, most of whom didn’t even know Lila and are probably only there for gossip purposes.

There are a few benches outside and Chloé sinks down onto one of them. Juleka sits down beside her. She’s wearing a black top, black skirt, and black boots. For once, her hair is pulled back in a long braid instead of free around her shoulders, though her bangs still hang over her eye. She fidgets, playing with the end of her skirt, but doesn’t seem to expect any conversation.

Nathaniel shows up first with his family: his bright red hair makes him easy to spot. He walks straight over to Chloé and Juleka and sits down on the other side of Chloé, putting his head in his hands with a tired sigh. Like the rest of them, he’s dressed in black. Chloé’s shocked when she notices the tell-tale cord around his neck that means he’s wearing the Fox miraculous, but she can’t exactly ask him when Juleka is there.

“This sucks,” Nathaniel says into his hands.

“It really does,” Chloé says, leaning into his shoulder before she can stop herself. Nathaniel’s used to it by now – all of the miraculous users are handsier with each other than most – but Juleka gives them an odd, thoughtful look.

“Have you seen Lila’s family?” Nathaniel asks.

“I have,” Juleka volunteers. “Or at least, I saw Lila’s dad and what I think must have been Lila’s grandmother. They both looked pretty broken up. I haven’t seen her mom yet.”

“I just got here,” Chloé says. “I haven’t seen any of them.” And truth be told, she doesn’t really want to. The thought makes her stomach flip uncomfortably. She lowered her head slightly and sighed, wishing that she could have skipped this entirely – but it didn’t feel right. 

They sit in quiet for a couple more minutes before Luka comes by to get Juleka. She leaves with him, and it’s just Chloé and Nathaniel alone. The silence between them isn’t awkward, but it’s content either. Chloé leans back a little and traces the cord around Nathaniel’s neck in silent query.

“Oh yeah, Marinette gave it to me after we spoke to Master Fu. Said I should keep it for the next few days, just in case,” Nathaniel tells her.

“Makes sense. Hopefully Hawkmoth has the grace to keep his butterflies to himself today,” Chloé says, though she’s not feeling terribly optimistic about that. Then again, there are a lot of people here. Hawkmoth could be one of them. She scans the crowd again, a little more sharply this time, but no one really stands out. No one looks like they’re actively gloating, at least.

“I hope so. An akuma is the last thing anyone needs,” Nathaniel says with a sigh. “Oh, look. There’s Adrien. And his dad.”

Chloé glances over in time to see Gabriel, Adrien, and Nathalie emerge from the back of a car, all of them dressed in impeccably tailored black suits. Gabriel looks incredibly uncomfortable already, and Chloé can’t help a snort. Of course he’s here, playing up for appearances no doubt: everyone who is anyone in Paris will be here today, showing off their stance against Hawkmoth. Adrien looks about as enthused by his father’s presence as Chloé is, and makes a beeline for them.

“I wanted to come with Marinette, but noooooo,” he grumbles, plopping down beside Chloé. “Père showed up in my room this morning and announced that we were coming together.”

“Marinette texted me. She’s almost here with her parents,” Nathaniel announces, waving his phone around. 

“What do you think the chances are that I can sit with you instead of my father?” Adrien whispers in Chloé’s ear, and she snorts on a laugh and lets him lace their fingers together.

When Marinette shows up, scuttling in wearing a black dress with her shoulders up around her ears, she too walks right over to them and squeezes herself between Adrien and Chloé without a word. The bench is really too small for four people, so Chloé ends up half in Nathaniel’s lap and Marinette is half in Adrien’s. Chloé doesn’t complain only because the combined weight of it all makes it hard to breathe, and her focus right now is on taking short, shallow breaths.

All too soon, it’s time to go in. The four of them do end up sitting together at the very back of the room, clustered in four chairs. Somehow Chloé ends up with Marinette’s small hand in hers and Nathaniel’s arm around her shoulders; one of Adrien’s hands is holding Marinette’s other hand, and his other arm is around Marinette’s shoulders so that he can cross arms with Nathaniel and put his other hand on the back of Chloé’s neck. She fully suspects that Nathaniel’s hand, the one across her shoulders, is touching Marinette and holy hell, she has _no idea_ how she became so intertwined with these people but she can’t bring herself to move either. She puts her free hand on Nathaniel’s knee and he covers her hand with his.

Chloé bows her head and, she’s being honest here, listens to very little of the ceremony. Several people get up to speak, including Rose, and naturally they’re all extolling Lila’s virtues – of which Chloé privately believes Lila had none, but she’s not about to say that out loud. Not here anyway. She can rant all she wants to Pollen later in the privacy of her own room.

Her discomfort and the weight on her chest grows as the weeping in the room gets louder. Madame Rossi is almost hysterical, wailing loudly as the priest returns to the podium. Beside Chloé, Marinette makes a hushed sound. When Chloé glances over at her, she sees tears running down Marinette’s cheeks. It’s then that Marinette’s grip on Chloé’s hand tightens to the point of pain, though Chloé doesn’t let go.

It’s a very uncomfortable hour, and Chloé is deeply relieved when the ceremony finally finishes. She gets to her feet and finds her knees weak; her head spins from a lack of oxygen. She _really_ needs the hive to get their emotions under control, but she can’t find the words to tell them that when Adrien is gently leading a broken Marinette out of the room. Nathaniel hitches an arm around Chloé’s waist and follows, half-carrying Chloé.

Outside in the warm sunlight, people mill around as they wait for the coffin to be brought to out. Chloé separates herself and finds a post to lean against, out of sight of everyone else. She leans against it and closes her eyes. The discordance in her chest crackles with every breath. The hive is suffering _badly_, worse than it’s ever been since she became the bee, and all she really wants to do is just smuggle Adrien, Marinette and Nathaniel back to her bedroom and ply them with all the good things in the world until they all _just stop mourning Lila goddamnit_.

“Chloé? Are you okay?” Pollen whispers, poking her head out of Chloé’s purse.

“No, I am very much not,” Chloé says through gritted teeth, pressing her hands over her chest, like the physical pressure is going to make a difference to something that is very much magical.

“Where is she? I want to speak to her!”

A strong feeling of nausea gripped Chloé. She closes her eyes to orient herself, then leans around the post to see what’s going on. Immediately, she wishes she stayed hidden. Madame Rossi is looking through the crowd, but as soon as she sees Chloé, she starts stalking in Chloé’s direction. No longer drowning in sorrow the way she was during the ceremony; her eyes are wild. Chloé stiffens, her heart racing.

She really should have stayed home.


	17. Chapter 17

“What can I help you with, Madame?” Chloé says, drawing on every ounce of strength left in her to keep her voice polite. Over Madame Rossi’s shoulder, she catches a glimpse of Adrien. He’s standing between Gabriel and Nathalie, expression fixed in horror. She doesn’t see Nathaniel or Marinette anywhere, but it’s likely they’ve been swept up by their own families and are lost in the crowd.

But of course, Madame Rossi wouldn’t be interested in them anyway. Chloé is the only one easily identifiable as a miraculouder holder. In that moment, as Madame Rossi bears down on her, Chloé regrets going public as Queen Bee. It would be so much easier right now if Lila’s family didn’t have a visible source to lay all of their anger out on.

“You,” Madame Rossi hisses, with all the venom of a mother who has lost her only child. “How _dare_ you show your face around here when this is all your fault?”

The words cut deep, but Chloé refuses to show it. “I think you’re mistaken,” she says as politely as possible. “I tried everything I could to save your daughter’s life.”

Her face burns suddenly, and it takes Chloé much longer than it should to realize Madame Rossi has slapped her across the face. She stares at the woman in belated shock, lifting one hand to her throbbing cheek.

“Liliana!” Monsieur Rossi wrestles her way through the crowd, grabbing his wife. “What are you doing?!”

“It’s her fault!” Madame Rossi screams. “Because of her and her little friends, Lila is dead!”

Chloé opens her mouth to respond, not even sure what she can say to that, but Monsieur Rossi shakes his head at her.

“Liliana, no,” he says quietly, trying to pull Madame Rossi into a hug.

Madame Rossi jerks away. “Don’t you tell me no! I know! My daughter told me how dangerous Ladybug was, but I didn’t believe her. I bought into what the rest of Paris believed. I should have known better! My baby would _never_ lie to me!”

If Madame Rossi weren’t screaming at her from less than a foot away, Chloé might have laughed. Something of her humor must still show on her face, because Madame Rossi’s face tightens with renewed rage and she brings her hand back to slap Chloé again. Her husband quickly grips her wrist, looking panicked as he tries to drag her away. Sheer fury keeps Madame Rossi in place.

“It’s all your fault!” she shrieks. “You and Ladybug! _You killed my baby_!”

Marinette’s definitely still here, because the discordance pierces so deep that Chloé’s knees buckle. She tries to stay on her feet but the world darkens at the edges of her eyes; she can feel herself starting to wobble, and she frantically throws out a hand to try and keep herself from fainting right in front of Monsieur and Madame Rossi – and Nathaniel grabs her hand.

Chloé’s always thought that, in spite of his shy and quiet nature, Nathaniel has a core of steel. The look on his face right now goes a long way towards proving her right. Nathaniel looks _pissed_. He steps closer to her, still holding her hand but also sliding a bracing arm around her waist with his opposite arm. The Fox miraculous is definitely affecting him, because he takes all of her weight with no effort.

“With all due respect, Madame Rossi, you’re not being fair,” he says, working hard to sound calm. “Ladybug and Queen Bee were trying to _save_ your daughter. What happened to Lila is a tragedy, but it’s _not_ their fault. Hawkmoth is the one to blame; he’s the one who gave Lila the Peacock miraculous without telling her what would happen. He’s the one who encouraged Lila to use it. He’s the one who isn’t here today.” Nathaniel tips his chin up, looking Madame Rossi in the eye.

A familiar hand rests on Chloé’s shoulder. She glances back, a little startled, to see Adrien standing there with Marinette. Adrien’s expression is carefully blank, but he takes Chloé away from Nathaniel and easily lifts her up bridal style. Marinette is pale, her eyes glossy with tears, but she takes Chloé’s hand again and stares at Madame Rossi with her lower lip trembling.

Then Juleka appears on Marinette’s other side. Then Ivan, Alya and Nino. Then Luka and Marc. Then Max, Kim, and Alix. Then Mylène, Rose and Sabrina. One by one, their classmates and friends join them. Chloé doesn’t really know what to think of that, looping an arm around Adrien’s neck and keeping her eyes on Madame Rossi. If the woman tries to slap anyone again, Chloé’s gonna have to find the strength to intervene.

“We’re sorry for your loss,” Nathaniel continues quietly. “All of us.” He looks around as all of them nod. “But you can’t do this.”

Madame Rossi stares at them, tears welling up in her eyes, and then breaks down sobbing. It’s actually really horrible to watch. Marinette’s free hand comes up to cover her mouth. Monsieur Rossi looks devastated as he wraps his arms around his wife and leads her away, back to the rest of their family. Chloé sags in Adrien’s grip, some combination of shame, frustration and pain making her exhausted.

“Are you okay, Chloé?” Adrien asks quietly.

“I’m fine,” Chloé says, which is actually a total lie and she can tell that Adrien knows it. She tightens her grip on Marinette’s hand and drags Marinette closer, until their faces are inches apart.

“What, Chloé –” Marinette says.

Chloé leans in, putting her lips beside Marinette’s ear, and hisses, “She was talking bullshit. It’s not your fault and it’s not my fault and you need to get a grip. Stop torturing yourself with all the ‘what if’ scenarios because you’re driving me crazy and I can’t handle it.” Her breath comes out in a raspy gasp, and she finishes with, “Nathaniel was right. This is Hawkass’s fault, not ours. We did literally everything we could, Lila wouldn’t listen to us and you damn well know it, now _let it go_!”

She finishes her rant a little louder than she probably should’ve, but honestly this day has pushed Chloé Bourgeois well beyond her limits. She lets go of Marinette and turns away, half-tempted to transform into Queen Bee and just run – but the discordance is always worse when she’s transformed because she’s that much more connected to the hive, and holy hell she really will pass out then.

“Adrikins, I want to go home,” Chloé says, ignoring their shell-shocked leader but catching the thoughtful look on Juleka’s face. Shit, Chloé thinks. This little display might just be helping Juleka put some things together. That’s not good, but Chloé can’t deal with it right now.

“Okay,” Adrien says, quiet but firm, and narrows his eyes at the crowd around them until people move to let them pass through. Nathaniel catches Chloé’s eye, giving her a nod as Adrien carries Chloé back towards where the cars are, bypassing the mayor’s car until they get to the one where the Gorilla is faithfully waiting in the driver’s seat. Marinette, who has apparently decided to tag along, opens up the door for them.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette says once Chloé and Adrien are in the car, her fingers curled around the frame of the door. “I wasn’t thinking about you – about what this was doing to you.” Her eyes look shadowed.

“That’s not your fault either. It’s my job,” Chloé says, tipping her chin up, because she’s a damn good Bee and this is proof. “Just – just figure your shit out, okay. Whatever it takes. You’ve got the rest of the week and if you haven’t got yourself under control, we’re having _words_.”

For possibly the first time since Lila’s death, Marinette smiles thinly. “I don’t think it’ll take that long. In fact, I know of the perfect distraction. Nathaniel and I may have a casual chat with Juleka.” She gives Chloé a meaningful look which tells Chloé that she wasn’t the only one to notice Juleka today.

“Don’t scare her off,” Chloé says half-heartedly. If Juleka _has_ figured it out, she’s going to be subject to the Ladybug Lecture on Secret Identities. Chloé almost pities her.

Marinette snorts. “_Chaton_, take our Bee home,” she says in an undertone, too soft for the Gorilla to hear.

Adrien salutes her. “Anything you say, My Lady,” he murmurs back, and they give each other doe eyes like they’re speaking a secret language until Chloé pointedly clears her throat. Marinette takes the hint and steps back, gently shutting the door.

“To Le Grand Paris, please,” Chloé says to the Gorilla. He grunts and the car starts moving.

“I’m sorry too,” Adrien whispers to Chloé, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his side. “I never even thought about what this was doing to you.”

“God you two are annoying with your tendency to take blame for things that aren’t your fault,” Chloé says, resting her head on his shoulder. “One, it’s not your responsibility to worry about me. Two, you can’t help the way you feel. Three, you feeling guilty about this is _not_ helping.”

“Uh, sorry,” Adrien says.

“Stop apologizing, Adrien, geez,” Chloé says with exasperation. “Like I said to Marinette, t’s my job, okay?” She pushes herself up to scowl into his face, lowering her voice. “I’m the Bee. I keep the hive healthy. This shit is just part of it. Can you imagine if I wasn’t here to shake some sense into Marinette? Hawkmoth would win just because she’d literally drown herself in guilt.”

Adrien opens his mouth like he wants to argue, then shuts it as he realizes she’s right. Chloé gives him a smug look and says, “That’s why the Bee is so important. That’s why Fu let me keep my miraculous. It’s why he doesn’t pull that holier-than-thou Guardian bullshit with me like he does with Marinette. If I weren’t here, the two of you would just suffer along in silence because you wouldn’t know who the other was and you never open your goddamn mouths and _talk_.”

“We weren’t that bad,” Adrien says weakly.

Chloé snorts, and is pretty sure she hears Pollen and Plagg snort too. “Oh Adrikins, honey, seriously.”

Adrien pouts and pulls her back in against him. “Okay, maybe we were.”

“They totally were,” Plagg mutters in Adrien’s pocket, which Chloé only hears because her ear is right next to where Plagg is hiding. 

“I just hate that this has happened,” Adrien says, looking out the window. “It’s horrible.”

“I know,” Chloé says, very softly, because it _is_ horrible and she knows that Ladybug and Chat Noir, rightly or wrongly, will always carry some measure of guilt for Lila’s death. Hopefully what Chloé said today is enough to snap both of them out of the downward spiral that they’re on. It might take a while before they, and Nathaniel, fully come to terms with it, but anything alleviation of guilt would help right now.

They sit in silence for the rest of the trip. When they get to the hotel, the Gorilla clambers out and opens the door. Adrien gets out and Chloé follows; she refuses to let him carry her again because she is no damsel, but she does let Adrien take her arm and she leans heavily against him as they walk into the hotel. Her cheek doesn’t even hurt anymore, but the day’s taken its toll and her legs still feel weak.

In the elevator ride up, Chloé feels her phone vibrate against her hip. She reaches into her pocket automatically, expecting to see a text from either Nathaniel or Marinette telling her that they’ll be by shortly. She’s already anticipating the order they’ll have to make to the kitchens when she looks at her screen and gulps. The text is from Nathaniel, but it’s not what she thought – except that in one way, it totally is.

**4:07pm Nathaniel:** yeah so juleka knows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read, commented or left kudos! There will be more in the Hive verse to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
